Anthropic unveils Claude Duet AI agent app

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Anthropic announced Claude Duet on Thursday. It is a separate AI app designed to help professionals and small-business owners by taking action before they ask. The launch comes as competitors such as OpenAI and Meta race to build AI agents that can do tasks on their own for users.

• Anthropic said Duet gives users a daily summary and can handle tasks such as scheduling meetings, making financial forecasts and building web apps.

• Duet is available on iOS, Android and claude.ai through a research preview that requires users to join a waiting list. It checks the apps users connect to it and points out things that need attention, instead of waiting for users to give it instructions.

• Duet uses Anthropic's Opus 5.5 model. At first, it is available to subscribers in the United States who have Pro or Max plans. Its use counts toward the limits already included in those plans.

• Last month, OpenAI launched its always-on "dots" agents, which work toward users' goals across apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. Meta's Muse AI agent received millions of downloads and increased investor interest in AI services that can act on their own.

• Duet connects with more than 6,000 tools and services through the Claude Marketplace, including Gmail and Slack. It can also make purchases using Stripe's Link digital wallet and Shopify's Shop Pay.

• Anthropic said users must approve sensitive actions taken by Claude Duet. The company also acknowledged that the agent may misunderstand how urgent something is and is still less useful for personal tasks, such as booking tickets.

(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)