Anthropic’s New AI Agent Purchases Business Supplies
Anthropic has introduced an app that lets Claude act as a “proactive agent” for professionals and small business owners. This includes buying supplies for their businesses, the company said in an announcement on Wednesday (Oct. 21).
In this app, called Claude Duet, Claude contacts users when something needs their attention, completes tasks they have asked it to do, and keeps working even when they step away. It also checks with users before taking action on their behalf, according to the announcement.
“What makes Claude Duet so helpful is its judgment,” Anthropic said in the announcement. “We designed it around Claude Opus 5.5 and built it to be resourceful and to decide what needs you, what can wait and when to check with you first.”
Anthropic opened a waitlist for Claude Duet on Wednesday for Pro and Max subscribers in the United States.
Claude Duet uses information from the user's memory, skills and connected apps in their Claude account to understand the situation. It can keep working even when the user's laptop or phone is turned off. It sends notifications when a task is finished or needs the user's review. It also checks connected accounts from time to time and messages the user when something needs attention. Before sending a message, making a payment, signing a document or deleting anything, it waits for the user's approval. According to the announcement, it connects to other tools through the more than 6,000 connectors and plug-ins in the Claude Marketplace.
“You can also use Claude Duet to purchase things for your business using Link, Stripe's digital wallet,” Anthropic said in the announcement. “Claude Duet confirms the item with you, and Link asks you to approve the spend. It then pays with a virtual card, so your real card number isn't shared. It can use Shop Pay from Shopify to check out at online stores.”
Several companies have recently announced personal AI agents, which can carry out tasks for users.
Meta's Muse was downloaded more than 10 million times in the United States and Canada during its first 35 days of availability, according to an announcement on Monday (Oct. 19) from Sensor Tower, a company that tracks digital markets.
OpenAI launched dots on Sept. 29. The company said these AI agents are “built to handle everything.”
Instinct, which builds a personal AI agent for everyday life, said on Sept. 28 that it was valued at $10 billion after raising $1 billion in Series C funding.
xAI announced on Sept. 26 that its Grok Bot can now connect to users' financial accounts in read-only mode. This lets it help users manage their spending and investments without changing their financial information.