Meta Opens Muse Video Chat to All US Users Ahead of Wearable Launch

Meta opened Muse Voice to every user in the United States on Thursday, letting people call and video chat with the company's consumer AI agent, Muse. The rollout lands weeks before Meta plans to ship a Tamagotchi-like wearable device for the same agent before year-end.

The feature first appeared at Meta's Connect developer conference in September. It runs on two new AI models, Meta says: Muse Realtime Avatar and Muse Realtime Voice. Together they power a digital avatar that talks back to the user in real time.

What does the avatar actually do?

Muse is not a faceless voice assistant. Meta gives it a cute, animated avatar nicknamed Jolly. Users ask questions or request tasks, and the avatar handles them on their behalf. Users can customize the character too, switching it to something that looks more like a person, an animal, or some other figure.

The design choice is deliberate. Meta believes that anthropomorphizing Muse could make consumers feel more connected to their AI agent. That connection could grow even stronger, the company argues, as users begin to engage in live conversations with it.

The avatar moves as it speaks. Meta says it will use "subtle expressions and gestures" that match the tone of the conversation — a soft laugh for a joke, a steady face for a task list.

How did Meta announce it?

The rollout was announced via blog post and on X by Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, who shared a demo of his own Muse in action. In the video, Wang joked about his habit of posting memes on X. He told his Muse the memes may have gotten him in trouble with his boss. His Muse — rendered as a fluffy white dog — suggested adding disclaimers to any memes that could be misread as Meta endorsing anything risque.

The demo did double duty. It showed the realtime voice model working in an unscripted exchange, and it put Wang, Meta's top AI executive, personally in front of the product two months after its first preview.

Where does the hardware fit in?

The video chat support arrives just before Meta's planned launch of a Tamagotchi-like wearable device for Muse before the end of the year. When the device ships, the digital avatar will appear on its small screen. Users can talk to the agent, which can reply or carry out tasks for them.

Meta says the realtime conversations work now on mobile, web, and Mac. Support will come later to its AI Glasses and to the upcoming "Muse Charm" hardware device.

Why anthropomorphic AI is the bet here

Other AI competitors already offer voice chat features. Meta's differentiator is the face — an animated character users can reshape and talk to live, rather than a disembodied voice. The company is betting that a talking dog or a human-like figure builds stickier habits than a chat box.

The strategy has a clear commercial logic. A wearable with a persistent on-screen character gives users a reason to carry the agent everywhere, and a familiar avatar gives them a reason to keep it on. The December device launch will test whether the connection Meta describes translates into hardware sales.