Anthropic Previews Claude Duet, a Workplace AI Agent Aimed at Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots

Anthropic on Wednesday announced a preview of Claude Duet, an artificial intelligence agent built for small businesses and professionals - a direct challenge to OpenAI's Dots and Meta's Muse.

According to Anthropic, Claude Duet can send users daily briefs, keep tabs on connected apps, and handle tasks such as building dashboards, scheduling meetings and creating financial forecasts. In a blog post, the company said the agent "comes to you with what needs your attention, completes tasks you ask of it, keeps working even when you step away, and checks with you before it acts on your behalf."

The launch comes as rival offerings gain real traction. Meta's Muse, marketed as a "personal AI agent," debuted last month and shot to the top of Apple's App Store. OpenAI unveiled Dots, its "always-on agents," weeks later at its annual developer conference. Meta has aimed its agent mainly at consumers, while OpenAI's product spans both enterprise and consumer markets. Anthropic said that because Claude Duet is built primarily for the workplace, personal errands like booking tickets are not "quite as strong."

The three companies have been competing hard on AI. Anthropic and OpenAI have spent much of the past year releasing competing models and vying for enterprise market share, while Meta has been overhauling its AI strategy and investing billions to compete at the frontier. On Meta's third-quarter earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts that more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada "have set up Muse personal agents" over the past month and a half.

Anthropic cautioned that Claude Duet is still in an early phase and "might misread a thread or miscalibrate what's urgent." The company opened a waitlist on Wednesday, with eligible users able to access the product through a standalone app or the Claude website. It is available to Pro and Max subscribers during the preview.

Source: CNBC