Meta Platforms’ breakout Muse personal AI agent is shining a spotlight on a new battleground in artificial intelligence – one in which China’s biggest internet companies are already jostling for position.
Launched on September 8, Muse surpassed 2.5 million downloads in its first two weeks and topped free-app rankings on Apple and Google’s US app stores. Its popularity has drawn fresh attention to the emerging market for what are known as agent harnesses.
Unlike chatbots, which merely respond to prompts, agent harnesses provide underlying AI models with persistent memory, tool access and the autonomy to execute more complex tasks.
Meta says Muse operates across the web and connected services like email and calendars, and can help users fill out forms, make purchases and book travel while remembering their preferences.
