Meta hopes your next device will come loaded with Muse

Meta description: Meta's Muse Gadgets open-source project lets developers build custom hardware for Muse, from Raspberry Pi and ESP32 boards to smart home links.

Tags: Meta Muse, Muse Gadgets, AI hardware, open source, Superintelligence Labs

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Meta’s Muse Gadgets is the latest step in Meta’s effort to turn Muse, a personal AI agent, into something beyond a chat window. The project, introduced on Friday, is an open-source program that lets developers build custom hardware and connect it to Muse. For everyday users, Muse books travel, fills out forms, and shops on a user’s behalf. For tinkerers and hackers, the new release matters because it gives them a path to attach AI to physical displays, sensors, buttons, and other devices.

Background: Muse Moves From Chatbot to Agent

Muse has already found popularity with the masses as a personal AI agent that handles routine tasks: booking travel, completing forms, and shopping for a user. That consumer-facing role explains why Meta is now trying to widen the product’s reach. A chatbot can answer questions and carry out actions inside an app, but a hardware agent can live in the home, on a workbench, or on a screen near the user.

The broader context is Meta’s push to make Muse part of a larger ecosystem rather than a standalone assistant. The company is not trying to keep Muse only for everyday consumers. It is also aiming at small businesses and enterprises, where an AI agent can be embedded into workflows, storefronts, communication tools, and internal systems.

Development Process: Friday Release Opens Muse to Custom Hardware

On Friday, Meta introduced Muse Gadgets as an open-source project. The package includes open-source firmware, the low-level software that runs a device, and a Linux software development kit (SDK). Meta also supplied a few starter project ideas. One example is giving Muse a color e-ink display. Another is loading it onto a stick that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port.

The design is deliberately broad. Users can set up a low-cost hobbyist computer such as a Raspberry Pi, or use an off-the-shelf ESP32 board, then connect Muse “to your displays, buttons, sensors, actuators, and whatever else you’ve got lying on your workbench,” according to Meta. There do not appear to be many limits on what can be connected. The company has also set up a Discord channel to support users.

The appeal is practical: instead of waiting for one official device, developers can experiment with physical interfaces for Muse. The SDK and firmware lower the barrier for hardware experiments, while the examples suggest how Muse could become a TV accessory, a desk gadget, or a networked home device.

Latest Progress: Business Tools and an Internal Home Link

The hardware release fits alongside Meta’s commercial strategy. Earlier this week, the company introduced Muse for Small Business. The offer is free with usage limits and connects Muse to tools such as Shopify, Dropbox, and Slack. That combination gives Muse a role in commerce, file storage, and team communication.

Meta has also launched a new business unit, Meta Enterprise Platform, to help it push its AI offerings to businesses and corporate customers. This suggests Muse is being positioned as part of a broader enterprise-facing product line, not only a consumer utility.

Meta has already tried the code itself. Nat Friedman, head of product at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, said in a post on X that the company built a gadget called Muse Home Link. The USB-C-powered device lets Muse connect to a home network and talk to smart devices on it, including speakers and smart TVs.

Current Stage: An Ecosystem Buildout, Not Just a Chatbot

Muse Gadgets may not have wide appeal among all consumers, but it signals the stage Meta is in now: expanding Muse into an ecosystem. The company is giving developers the tools to create hardware, giving small businesses a free path into existing tools, and organizing a business unit for corporate customers. The Friday release adds the physical layer; the earlier business launch adds the workflow layer. Together, they show Meta treating Muse as a platform that can live across screens, devices, and business applications.