Video Chat With Meta's AI Agent Is Now Open to Everyone in the US: Muse's Cute Character Is There So You'll Bond With It, the Company Says

Meta announced on Thursday that every user in the US can now call or video chat with Muse, the company's AI agent. The feature is called Muse Voice, it was first shown at the Connect conference in September, and it runs on two new models: Muse Realtime Avatar and Muse Realtime Voice.

Other AI companies offer voice conversations too. The difference is the face: an animated, soft character nicknamed Jolly, which users can restyle to look like a person, an animal or some other character. While it talks, Muse uses "subtle expressions and gestures" that match the tone of the conversation, Meta says. The agent can't see the user - it only listens and reacts to what it hears.

The intent isn't hidden. The company believes that when AI gets human traits, people will feel more connected to their agent, and that bond could grow even stronger once they start talking to it live. When a company whose business lives on users' attention builds a buddy who's pleasant to talk to, whose side is that bond on?

The news was announced by Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, in a blog post and on X, where he also shared a demo. In the video he jokes that posting memes on X may have landed him in trouble with the boss. His Muse, a white fluffy dog, suggests he add a disclaimer to memes that could be read as Meta being behind something inappropriate. A joke, but also a small lesson: the agent already knows how to protect the company.

The next step is hardware. Before the end of the year Meta plans a small Tamagotchi-style device, with the character living on its screen and carrying out tasks on command. Live conversations currently work on mobile, web and Mac, and will later come to the AI Glasses and the Muse Charm device.

For now, all of this is US-only. When it reaches Europe, the question won't be how cute Jolly is, but who's listening to and storing the conversations people have with it.