Meta hopes its new AI agent will win people over by being cute.
Muse, the tech giant’s cuddly, doll-like AI agent, shot to the top of the Apple App Store charts after it was featured this week at the company’s Meta Connect conference.
The company is touting the tool, designed to help people with their everyday tasks, as an AI agent “built for everyone,” including those who lack experience with technology.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the default Muse avatar, which is cream-colored and has beady black eyes and an upward smile, is named “Jolly,” for its “jolly and completely customizable character and personality.”
Muse is being launched as tech companies seek to make their AI-powered products more palatable to humans, often by giving them cute, almost petlike appearances, voices and personalities. Experts have said design choices that humanize technology may become more common as robot-human interaction grows more prevalent in everyday spaces, as cuteness evokes “deep-seated biological responses” in people.
“It was only about six months ago that having a personal agent running on your own computer was the sign of someone who is completely AI-pilled and thinking nonstop about agents,” Alexandr Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer, said Wednesday. “But for that small group of nerds … it looked like the beginning of personal superintelligence. And today with Muse, we’ve brought that magic to everyone.”
Muse agents can take on a variety of appearances, with users able to customize everything from their names to their attire. Zuckerberg’s agent, which wears a toga and a wreath around its head, is named Agrippa, after the Roman general and statesman.
During the event, Zuckerberg also teased what he calls the “Muse charm,” a small handheld device that can activate the agent on the go. He raised the keychain charm onstage at Meta Connect in Menlo Park, California, showing off what looks like a blend of a Labubu and a Tamagotchi.
“Talking to your Muse is often the fastest way to get things done, and it is also just really fun and cute,” he said, saying he used Agrippa to come up with a baking recipe and order ingredients for him and his daughter.
Muse is also being integrated directly into Meta’s expanding lineup of AI-powered glasses, which have been criticized over fears of casual surveillance. Zuckerberg has told NBC News that Meta will continue to bolster privacy safeguards for its smart glasses.
Zuckerberg said every Muse agent has its own private and secure computer called Muse Secure VM, a dedicated secure computer that houses both the agent and the user’s personal data. Down the line, he said, Meta plans to release Muse Confidential VM “so that even Meta won’t be able to see that information.”
“In the coming years, I expect that Muse is going to grow into the personal superintelligence that billions of people around the world are going to use to accomplish their goals and improve their lives,” he said.
Online, the reaction has been mixed.
Wang, Meta’s chief AI officer, posted a flurry of memes inserting Muse into moments from movies, shows and historical events.
Some followed his lead by making their own avatars and sharing screenshots on social media.
Others, however, expressed skepticism, citing security concerns.
“Am I the only one who doesn’t want to let meta have access to my whole life?” a user posted.
“We are going to need some tight defenses and 3rd party testing of these platforms… like all software products,” entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calacanis wrote.
Zuckerberg has continued to be bullish on AI despite recent calls from tech executives and government officials to pump the brakes on AI development amid surging fears about the existential risk the technology poses.
He shared his thoughts recently on X, saying market forces should be enough to keep AI companies in line.
“My view is that trust and alignment are quickly becoming the most important capabilities that will differentiate agents and models. Any lab that doesn’t focus on alignment will fall behind,” he wrote, adding: “Meta delayed shipping Muse for several months to focus on safety and security. We didn’t call for everyone else to do this before we would.”
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