Meta's Muse steals attention from OpenAI and Anthropic's new model launches
As Anthropic and OpenAI both rolled out new AI models on the same day, it was Meta's personal AI agent Muse that captured the spotlight, reportedly growing faster than ChatGPT's early numbers and headed for smart glasses and a small companion device.
This week saw a burst of activity among leading AI companies, yet the biggest talking point wasn't the newest flagship model from the top labs — it was Meta's personal AI agent, Muse.
Anthropic announced the release of its Opus 5.5 model, and just about 90 minutes later, OpenAI pushed out updates to its GPT-6 model. Despite this near-simultaneous activity from two of the industry's biggest names, reports indicate that Meta's Muse is the product actually generating the most buzz, with its growth reportedly outpacing the early adoption numbers ChatGPT saw when it first launched.
According to available reporting, Meta plans to expand Muse's reach by bringing it to smart glasses, and is also developing a small, Tamagotchi-style companion device built around the assistant.
Podcast discussion on consumer AI strategy
On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, hosts discussed what Meta's consumer AI push means for startups trying to build products on top of these technologies, touching on where investment dollars are flowing and which AI products are likely to become part of people's everyday routines.
The episode also covered other industry developments: venture firm a16z's newly launched academy for aspiring founders, which hosts compared to the Thiel Fellowship and Silicon Valley's long-standing skepticism toward traditional college education; wearable device maker Oura's $2.2 billion IPO, described as benefiting existing shareholders more than raising fresh capital for the company; and a $77 million funding round for Ema, a company that sells teams of AI agents automating HR, IT, and finance workflows, counting Google and Microsoft among its early enterprise customers.
