Connect with us

News

Everything new coming to Meta’s AI agent Muse

info

Published

on

Mark zuckerberg meta connect.jpg

Meta’s personal AI agent Muse is only a few weeks old, and the social networking giant isn’t wasting any time building out what may be its biggest bet on consumer AI to date. 

CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the company’s annual Connect event in Menlo Park on Wednesday with a keynote that made one thing clear: Meta is going all-in on Muse. 

The Muse agent (the physical avatar is named Jolly, according to Zuckerberg) is designed to handle everyday tasks by connecting to users’ apps and services, including email and calendars. At Connect, Zuckerberg introduced a slew of new capabilities and integrations to make Muse more useful and more deeply woven into users’ daily lives. Muse will be everywhere, if the user chooses, including on their Meta AI glasses. 

Muse, which launched in early September, interacts across a user’s devices and digital accounts. The agent is powered by Muse Spark, Meta’s multimodal AI model built for agentic work. Meta has touted it as a more accessible agent than those offered by competitors — an AI helper that, from the jump, allows users to automate the busy work in their lives. 

“The centerpiece of our vision for what we’re building is Muse,” Zuckerberg said as he kicked off a keynote donning khakis and a black T-shirt with the words “Building is My love Language” emblazoned across the front. “In the coming years, I expect that Muse is going to grow into the personal superintelligence that billions of people around the world are going to use to accomplish their goals and improve their lives.”

Zuckerberg also believes that Muse will make money for its users — and of course, eventually for Meta.

“We’re standing behind this by making Muse free for a huge number of tokens, with the expectation that over time we will profit by taking a small fee from transactions,” he said.

Here are the new features and capabilities that got our attention …

Muse gets its own digital avatar

Image Credits:Meta/screenshot /

One of the more fun announcements made Wednesday is that Muse users will soon have the ability to conjure a distinct digital avatar for their particular agent and then video chat with it in real time. A new AI model, Muse Realtime Avatar, has been developed to power the particular feature, the company says.

The idea is that Meta’s previously faceless AI software will be given a face, body, and voice, making them significantly more personable. There’s certainly a hint of Metaverse-ishness to this feature, which was demoed on stage at Connect. Users will be able to have live conversations with this avatar, giving it tasks and asking it questions. 

Muse will also be integrated with Meta’s smart glasses line, the company announced. This means that users will be able to communicate with their agent merely by speaking to their glasses. The agent activates via a wake word, the company said, adding that it will be able to guide users through a personalized workout, log meals, book an appointment, and help them buy products they see. 

Meta said Muse will work in the background and check back in when it’s done.

It’s not clear exactly when this feature will become available, although Meta says that it should launch sometime in “the coming months.” 

Soon, you’ll be able to let Muse run your Mac

Image Credits:Meta/screenshot /

Meta says it is bringing Muse computer work to Mac. The company had previously talked about Muse coming to Mac, and spent more time on Wednesday providing a few new details. This means that users will be able to delegate tasks to the agent, and — much like other popular AI agents from OpenAI and Anthropic — Muse will be able to operate any app on a user’s desktop.

“You can have it help you run your small business, or just get work done for you,” Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said Wednesday during the keynote. “You can walk away from your computer and it keeps working for you on all the jobs you lined up.”

Muse will get its own email address

Since Muse will always be working in the background, it will naturally need its own email address. Meta’s Wang announced it is developing that feature and will make it available “soon,” without providing a more precise timeline.

Users will also be able to add Muse to an email thread or forward emails from the agent to handle on their behalf.

Meta has locked in partnerships with companies like Stripe and Shopify, illustrating that the company sees Muse as an important tool for shopping.

Muse can access the entire Shopify product catalog agentically and use Lync and now Shop Pay to buy almost anything on the internet, according to Wang, who noted that Meta has also added more support for payments with PayPal.

The company also announced a string of new partnerships with retailers, including Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Walmart, and Wayfair. Muse will be able to connect with these retail apps as well as with Expedia and soon, Instacart. Other connectors include GitHub, Granola, and Notion.

Wang noted that the company wants Muse to connect with small business too. Meta recently opened its platform to allow developers to build their own “connectors.” The company received more than 1,500 applications in less than week, he said, adding “I think this could be a generational opportunity to start building for a new platform as it takes off, and the response so far has been really great.”

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Anthony Joshua Drills Himself In Gruesome Training With ‘Ancient Stretching Technique’

info

Published

on

By

IMG 20260924 WA0007.jpg

Nigerian-born former two-time world heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Olaseni Oluwafemi Joshua has stepped up his training routine with some gruesome drills ahead of his long-awaited grudge fight with fellow-Briton, Tyson Fury later this year.

Sports247 gathered that, in order not to be caught off guard by the very resilient Fury during their hugely expected bout in December, Joshua has resorted to an ancient method of stretching his body to the limit, while staying in peak shape.

Joshua, who has always been known to devote himself to tough physical drills during training, is keeping himself trim for the clash with the help of an ancient stretching machine, as the countdown gets tighter towards their epic bout in Cardiff, Wales on December 11th.

With the fight’s venue eventually taken away from Madison Square Garden in New York, USA, after Joshua’s camp held firm on it holding in the UK, the London 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist wants to take full advantage of stepping out on familiar terrain.

Before Cardiff was eventually chosen, both boxers continued raising contrasting views and exchanged hostile banter but, with the issue now solved, Joshua has shared a video of himself hooked up to a modern-day version of an ancient body suspension and stretching kit.

A report by UK’s SunSport adds, “In medieval times, Slavic martial artists and warriors would use a version of the machine to strengthen their tendons and open up their joints to stay combat-ready.

“Joshua looks to be just that after having his limbs and back contorted by the gruelling apparatus. At one point in the video, AJ was suspended in the air by his arms and legs (then) effortlessly twisting his core and lower back nearly 180 degrees.”

Sports247 reports further that it us now left to be seen if the unorthodox fitness technique would be good enough not only to keep ‘AJ’ in peak shape but also build his staying power, ahead of what could jolly well be a long night in the roped square with ‘The Gypsy King.’

Continue Reading

Business

Gambia asks GTB, Access Bank, others to dismiss non-Gambian employees

info

Published

on

By

Images 2.jpeg

The Central Bank of The Gambia ordered all commercial banks operating in the country to dismiss non-Gambian employees.

In a letter dated 19 September, the central bank asked commercial banks to phase out non-citizens who are not on approved expatriate quotas by the end of the year.

The letter, signed by the bank’s Second Deputy Governor, Ousman Mendy, was addressed to managing directors of all banks operating in the country, including Nigerian subsidiaries such as First Bank, Zenith, Access, Eco, and the Guaranty Trust Bank.

The regulator also directed that the non-citizens dismissed should be replaced with qualified Gambians.

It directed banks to put clear succession plans in place quickly and transfer skills. It also asked banks to keep operations running smoothly during the transition.

According to the letter, the decision followed a meeting between the central bank and bank managing directors in August, during which they discussed concerns about the employment of non-Gambian workers in the banking sector.

PT WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Dangote Refinery AD

The CBG said a recent industry study it conducted found that banks employ a large number of foreigners.

It added that, in addition to recruiting expatriate workers, some banks allegedly violated provisions of The Gambia’s Labour Act 2023 and Guideline 9 on expatriate staff.

ALSO READ: Access Bank’s Euromoney wins signal new era of regional banking leadership

These provisions identify the circumstances under which expatriate workers can be employed and the quotas permissible.

“A recent industry study conducted by the Bank revealed that a relatively high number of non-Gambians are employed by banks, in addition to recognised expatriate staff.

“This is in violation of the provisions of the Labour Act 2023 and also not in line with guideline 9 on expatriate staff,” the letter read.

The regulator further urged banks to adhere to the country’s laws and strictly follow the central bank’s guidelines.

“You are hereby directed to ensure full compliance with the law and strict compliance with CBG’s guidelines,” it stated.


Discover more from Premium Times Nigeria

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Continue Reading

Trending