Meta opens real-time voice and video chat with Muse AI to all US users

What happened

Meta has opened real-time voice and video conversations with its Muse AI agent to all users in the United States, the company announced on November 5. The feature, branded Muse Voice, lets users call their Muse agent and see an animated avatar that responds with facial expressions, gestures, and a choice of hundreds of voice styles while they talk.

Mark Zuckerberg announced the rollout in a post on X, and Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang shared a demo showing his own Muse — a fluffy white dog avatar — responding with suggestions and banter. The feature was first previewed at Meta's Connect developer conference in September and has been rolling out to users gradually since then.

Meta's newsroom post described the feature as letting users talk through ideas with their Muse without worrying about the exact prompt, framing it as a tool for planning trips, rehearsing presentations, or just thinking out loud. The avatar hears the user and reacts while they talk, though Meta says Muse does not actually see the user — it only hears their voice and responds based on the conversation.

How it works

Muse Voice is powered by two new models: Muse Realtime Avatar and Muse Realtime Voice technology. The models enable fluid real-time conversations where users can speak naturally, interrupt, and change direction without waiting for the agent to finish. The avatar animates in sync with the words it's saying, and users can see it react while they talk.

Users can choose how the avatar appears — picking from preset styles or customizing it to look like a person, animal, or character — and select from hundreds of voice options including natural tones and character voices. The feature works in three modes: voice-only, the avatar alongside the conversation, or full-screen for face-to-face-style interaction.

The Verge's Jay Peters tested the feature and reported that responses came quickly, with occasional pauses while the agent looked up information. Peters set his avatar to look like Mark Zuckerberg as a reminder he was talking to a Meta service, describing the experience as slightly uncanny.

Why this matters

Muse is Meta's bet on making AI agents feel like companions rather than tools, and adding voice and video chat with animated avatars is a deliberate strategy to build emotional connection. TechCrunch's Sarah Perez reported that Meta believes anthropomorphizing Muse could make consumers feel more connected to their AI agent, a connection that could grow even stronger with live conversations. The animated avatar, nicknamed Jolly internally, is designed to be cute and approachable.

Meta's approach contrasts with competitors like OpenAI's ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode and Anthropic's Claude voice features, which offer voice conversations but without expressive avatars. By giving its agent a face and personality, Meta is betting that users will form stronger attachments to Muse than to text-only or voice-only assistants — attachment that could drive usage of the hardware devices Meta plans to sell.

What's coming next

Voice and video calling are rolling out now in the US in the Muse app. Meta says the feature will expand to its AI Glasses and the upcoming Muse Charm wearable device. The Muse Charm, described as a Tamagotchi-like gadget, is expected before the end of the year and will let users interact with their Muse agent through a small screen — the same animated avatar that now appears in the phone app.

Meta has been investing heavily in AI consumer products. Muse launched earlier this year as a personalized AI agent that learns user preferences over time, and the company has been positioning it as a central part of Meta's post-social-media strategy. The addition of voice and video chat is the most significant update since Muse's initial launch, giving the agent a new sensory channel for interaction.

The competitive landscape

Meta is entering an increasingly crowded market for AI voice interactions. OpenAI's ChatGPT already offers Advanced Voice Mode with real-time conversations and emotional expression recognition. Anthropic's Claude supports voice input and output through its app. Google's Gemini Live offers hands-free voice conversations. Apple Intelligence includes voice capabilities through a revamped Siri.

What sets Muse apart is the visual avatar layer and the hardware play. No major competitor combines real-time voice conversations with a fully animated, customizable avatar that users are encouraged to form an emotional bond with — and then carry around on a dedicated wearable device. If the strategy works, Meta could capture a different segment of the AI assistant market than the productivity-focused competitors.

Risks and concerns

The strategy of building emotional attachment to an AI agent raises familiar concerns about user privacy and psychological well-being. Critics have pointed out that anthropomorphized AI systems can encourage users to share more personal information than they would with a text-based tool, and that attachment to AI companions could displace human relationships.

Meta has said that Muse conversations are private and that the company does not use the content of voice conversations for ad targeting, but the company's track record on privacy — from the Cambridge Analytica scandal to repeated data-collection controversies — means any new data channel will face scrutiny.

TechCrunch noted that the rollout comes just before Meta's plan to launch the Muse Charm wearable, suggesting the company is accelerating its consumer AI hardware push regardless of the regulatory and social risks.

Summary

Meta's opening of real-time voice and video chat with Muse represents the consumer AI company's biggest product update since the agent's launch. By combining expressive animated avatars, hundreds of voice options, and a pipeline of hardware devices led by the Muse Charm wearable, Meta is betting that emotional connection — not just utility — will drive mainstream AI adoption.

Whether users want to video call their AI agent remains to be seen, but Meta is removing the friction. The Muse app now lets you tap a phone icon and start talking to a digital companion that looks back at you, reacts to your words, and will soon follow you around on a wearable. That is a different bet on AI than any of Meta's competitors are making.