Meta announced on Wednesday that its Muse assistant is expanding to new hardware, including AI glasses and a future handheld device, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the agent as a "personal superintelligence" for billions of people. The company is positioning Muse as a central component of its strategy to converge artificial intelligence and virtual reality, a move following billions of dollars in investment across both sectors.
New capabilities for Muse include live video chat, real-time voice conversations with custom voice options, and a dedicated email address for each user's agent. Meta also unveiled a list of new retail partners for the assistant, naming Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, and Wayfair. The expansion of these partnerships stands in contrast to Amazon's decision not to allow Muse on its platforms. Investors have reacted with a stock selloff in recent days, driven by concerns that Muse could erode the stickiness between brands and customers.
Zuckerberg detailed the business model for Muse during his Meta Connect keynote, stating that the company expects to profit by taking a small fee from transactions over time. He noted that Muse will remain free for a large number of tokens. The CEO said he expects Muse to help users accomplish their goals and improve their lives.
Beyond the software updates, Meta debuted new hardware at the event. The company is launching audio-only glasses later in October, starting at $349. These models are designed to provide open-air sound and an always-available AI assistant without the camera-equipped features that some consumers find intrusive. Meta is also updating its existing Meta Ray-Ban and Meta Glasses lines with modest improvements and new designs.
A more significant hardware shift is arriving next spring with a slimmer VR headset priced at $1,299. This device moves computing, battery, and storage to a separate wired puck, enabling a 5K display in glasses that weigh 100 grams. The headset is controlled entirely through voice, hand gestures, and eye gaze. Meta stated that more than 75 hand-tracked games will be available at launch, while older Quest titles will function only if users attach controllers.
Alex Himmel, Meta's vice president of wearables, said AI will enable the next big platform and that the vision of VR and AR converging into glasses is becoming a reality sooner than anticipated. The company is also advancing privacy features to make its gear more palatable to the mainstream. Meta confirmed it is working on a confidential virtual machine option for Muse and is readying "Private Processing" for AI glasses. This system is designed to keep data protected during cloud processing, similar to Apple's Private Cloud Compute. Meta said the platform is currently working and hopes to bring it to glasses by the end of the year, though no specific launch date has been committed.