Meta launches Muse Gadgets so anyone can build hardware for its AI agent

[CacheLayerShark]

Meta has launched Muse Gadgets, an open source programme for building custom hardware that works with Muse, its personal AI agent, TechCrunch reports. Meta is providing "open-source firmware (the low-level software that runs a device), and a Linux software development kit (SDK), along with a few project ideas to get users started." Developers can build on cheap boards like the Raspberry Pi or ESP32. Meta says you can connect "to your displays, buttons, sensors, actuators, and whatever else you've got lying on your workbench"

As a showcase, Meta has made Muse Home Link, a USB-C powered device that connects Muse to a home network so it can control smart devices. Meta built 5,000 units and is giving them away free to Muse subscribers. Nat Friedman, head of product at Meta Superintelligence Labs, said they would be ready to ship a few weeks after his social media post about them. That post drew nearly 30,000 views within hours

The programme follows Meta's recent launches of Muse for Small Business and its new Meta Enterprise Platform unit for corporate customers, which we covered a few days ago. Meta seems to be pushing Muse into every corner it can, from homes to offices to hobbyist workbenches. Opening up the hardware side could build a community of makers who extend the agent in ways Meta would never think of

There is an obvious tension here, given the story about Apple tightening macOS permissions partly because of an accusation involving the Muse app. Home Link connects an AI agent to every smart device on your network. That will appeal to tinkerers who love automation, but it will worry anyone concerned about how much access Meta's software already has

Would you build a gadget for an AI agent? And how comfortable would you be giving Meta's agent control of your smart home?

Meta wants your next gadget to be Muse-infused | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com

[Rebecca86]

Free Home Link units for subscribers is a clever way to get devices into homes. Five thousand is small, though

It feels more like a test than a mass rollout. Five thousand early adopters will produce a lot of useful feedback, though

[Sequence]

Open firmware on an ESP32 is right up my street. I already run Home Assistant on a Pi, so adding a voice agent on top would be fun to try. Whether I want it to be Meta's agent is another question

[Scholes17]

Not a chance I am giving Meta access to my home network. Their business model is data, and every sensor in the house would be another source of it. Smart home data reveals when you are in, when you sleep and when you go on holiday. That is far too much to hand over

[Amy96]

Local processing would change my mind. If the agent ran on my hardware with nothing sent to Meta's servers, I would consider it. That does not seem to be the plan. Apple and Google both push on device AI for privacy reasons. Meta seems to be heading the other way

[AustinTheory18]

The timing is awkward, with the Mac privacy story the same week. Meta might want to address that before asking people to wire Muse into their homes