Meta launches Muse: an AI agent that can act on your behalf

Meta has released a new AI agent. It is called Muse, and it is designed as an always-on digital assistant that can connect to apps and the browser to handle tasks for you.

Muse can, for example, look through your Gmail or Outlook, check your calendar, book a table via OpenTable, control Spotify or Peloton, and make purchases for you via Stripe Link. Shop Pay is on the way. There is also built-in access to Instagram, Messenger, Facebook and Marketplace, since this is Meta after all.

Security has been built in from the start. The agent runs isolated in its own small digital box (a Linux VM), and a separate watchdog, called Sentinel, monitors what it actually does. Your passwords and the like are never shown directly to the agent, and sensitive actions must be approved before they are carried out. Meta has also set a bounty of up to $300,000 for anyone who can find holes in the system.

For you as an individual, this means yet another AI agent that wants to handle practical things for you, from bookings to payments, if you choose to let it.

For businesses, it is relevant if you use some of the services mentioned (Gmail, Outlook, Plaid, Docs and others) and are considering whether automating these kinds of tasks makes sense for you.

There is no reason to act today. Wait and see how the security model and the bug bounty program hold up in practice before you or your company give an agent access to payments or sensitive data. It is still early, and Meta's own figures on user growth have not yet been confirmed by independent sources.