‘Works 24/7 to get things done’: All about Muse, Meta's new AI agent that can book travel, send emails and shop | World News

Meta has introduced Muse, a personal AI agent designed to do more than respond to prompts, with the company saying it can take over tasks, work towards larger goals and make suggestions on its own.Muse can be used through its app or directly on WhatsApp, allowing users to give it instructions in a conversational format.Announcing the agent, Mark Zuckerberg said on X, “Introducing Muse, the personal agent that understands your goals and works 24/7 to get things done for you.” From simple tasks to bigger goalsMuse can handle tasks such as sending emails and booking travel, but is also designed to take on larger goals. Users can tell Muse what they want to achieve, after which it can create a personalised plan, coordinate time and resources, and continue working towards the goal on its own.The agent can open a browser, fill out forms and negotiate on a user’s behalf. For tasks that take longer, it can continue working even after the user closes the app and return when something changes or when approval is required, such as before sending an email or making a purchase.Meta said Muse is intended to help users get better results with less effort, including selling a car for more, lowering a bill or modifying a training plan as other aspects of their lives change.For purchases, Muse can use Link, built by Stripe, to complete checkout. It is the first AI agent covered by Link’s purchase protections, which include free coverage for damaged or lost items, protection against price drops, no-fee returns and a return guarantee on eligible purchases.Link’s wallet for agents generates a one-time-use card, keeping users’ actual card details hidden while allowing Muse to make purchases across the internet. Meta said Shop Pay will soon be available as another payment option, while 1Password support is also coming so Muse can use logins that users already have.Muse is also designed to remember information that matters to users and use it later to make suggestions or take action, even if the detail was mentioned only once.For instance, it can turn a recipe reel saved on Instagram into a grocery list, suggest a menu for a dinner party and remember guests’ dietary restrictions before sending invitations.Also Read: ‘Getting laid off from Meta made me rich’: Techie claims layoff boosted savingsPrivacy and securityMeta said Muse has been built around a dedicated security system called Muse Secure VM, a virtual machine designed to house both the agent and a user’s data.Muse runs on its own dedicated computer in the cloud, isolated from other agents. User data and credentials for connected services are stored within the system.A separate Sentinel agent runs on the same machine but is kept apart from Muse at the system level. Muse cannot access the internet unless Sentinel approves the action, and it asks the user for permission when required.Meta said Muse does not have visibility into users’ passwords or payment methods. Credentials shared with the agent are stored securely so Muse can use them without seeing them, including passwords entered directly into the browser.The agent also seeks approval before sensitive actions such as sending an email or making a purchase. Users can see a complete audit trail of what Muse has done and what it plans to do.Users can decide which apps Muse connects to and how much access it receives. For email, for example, they can choose whether Muse can only read messages or also send emails on their behalf.Access can be changed or a connected service can be disconnected at any time. Users can also opt out of having their interactions used to train Meta’s AI models.Meta said Muse does not share users’ conversations or the data stored in their virtual machine with its advertising systems. Users can also ask Muse to forget specific information it has learned.Muse Confidential VMLater this year, Meta plans to introduce Muse Confidential VM. The entire virtual machine, including users’ data and conversations with Muse, will be encrypted with a key held only by the user, meaning even Meta will not be able to access it.Meta said it sees personal superintelligence as one of the most transformative technologies of a lifetime, with Muse representing an early step towards agents taking on more of the work for people.