Meta opens Muse video chat to all US users

Meta said on Thursday that Muse Voice, which lets users call and video chat with its consumer AI agent Muse, is now available to everyone in the U.S.

The video chatting feature, first introduced at Meta’s Connect developer conference in September, relies on new AI models: Muse Realtime Avatar and Muse Realtime Voice technology, which help power the digital avatar that chats with the user.

Meta’s Muse offers a cute, animated avatar nicknamed Jolly, which users interact with as they ask questions or request tasks to be handled on their behalf. Other AI competitors offer voice chat features, but Meta’s agent pairs them with this animated character. Users can customize the avatar, changing it to something that looks more like a person, animal or other character.

Meta believes that anthropomorphizing Muse this way could make consumers feel more connected to their AI agent — a connection that could grow stronger as they begin to engage in live conversations with it. As the avatar speaks, Meta says it will use “subtle expressions and gestures” that match the tone of the conversation.

The rollout was announced in a blog post and on X by Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, who shared a demo of his Muse in action. In the video, Wang joked about his love of posting memes on X, which he told his Muse may have gotten him in trouble with his boss. His Muse, a fluffy white dog, suggested adding disclaimers to memes that could be misinterpreted as Meta endorsing something risque.

The added support for video chats and calls comes just before Meta’s plan to launch a Tamagotchi-like wearable device for its Muse AI agent before year-end. When the device arrives, the digital avatar will appear on its small screen, letting users talk to the agent, which can then reply or carry out tasks for them.

Meta says the real-time conversations are supported on mobile, web and Mac, and will later come to its AI Glasses and the upcoming “Muse Charm” hardware device.