Meta Connect 2026 produced the usual parade of hardware: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses starting at $449, camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio frames starting at $349, $1,299 Meta VR Glasses tethered to a pocketable computing puck, and a pocket-sized Muse Charm that looks like a Tamagotchi. I’ll let the interweb review the hardware for you; I’m going to concentrate on Muse, Meta’s personal agent.
Muse is currently available in the U.S. and Canada. Meta says it will bring the agent to its AI glasses in the coming months. On camera-equipped models, Muse will be able to act on what you’re looking at, including products on a shelf, a flier, or a shopping list.
Meta says it is adding connections to Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Ulta, Wayfair, DICK’S Sporting Goods, Fanatics, Michael Kors, and American Eagle Outfitters, plus Shop Pay and PayPal for payments. Expedia and Instacart integrations are also coming. (Muse will also get its own email address.)
Imagine looking at a box of detergent in a store aisle and asking your glasses to find a better price and then arrange the purchase. Meta’s announcement leaves the exact checkout flow unspecified; the store’s shelf and packaging could create the demand while the agent sends the purchase elsewhere.
Meta has spent two decades monetizing attention through advertising. Muse could compress the customer journey (discovery, recommendations, and checkout) into a conversation. To me, it sounds like a wearable POS terminal.
If an agent is going to pick the product, brands will need to be accessible to those agents. Today, this means having structured product data, accurate pricing and availability, and tests to understand how Muse finds and evaluates products.
Muse currently runs in Muse Secure VM. Meta says it can access data there when necessary to support, secure, or operate the service. The company plans to introduce Muse Confidential VM later this year, which is designed to prevent even Meta from accessing data inside it. Meta says Muse keeps conversations and VM data out of its advertising systems and lets users opt out of using sanitized interaction data for training. Those distinctions are going to matter when we let agents spend our money.
So far, everyone I’ve spoken to who has spent time with Muse (myself included) really likes it. At least in my world, no one is confused about how much data Meta is collecting. As always, consumers will vote with their wallets. If the convenience outweighs the perceived data privacy issues, Meta has struck gold.
Every company needs a Claw strategy. Do you have one?
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.