Anthropic is unveiling a workplace AI agent to rival Meta Muse and OpenAI Dots

Anthropic opened a research preview of Claude Duet on Wednesday, the company said. Claude Duet is an AI app designed for professionals and people who run small businesses. It shows users what needs their attention, completes tasks they give it and asks for permission before taking action on their behalf.

The product is likely to compete with Meta's $META +0.47% Muse and OpenAI's Dots AI agents, according to CNBC.

Anthropic said Claude Duet sends users a morning summary of the most important items in their connected apps. It also sends messages when something needs their attention. Users can ask it to handle many kinds of work, such as scheduling meetings, creating dashboards, preparing financial or sales forecasts and building web apps. The agent runs on a virtual computer with its own browser, so the user's laptop or phone does not need to stay on.

The app is available on iOS, Android and claude.ai. It is powered by Claude Opus 5.5 and is included in the Pro and Max plans. It uses the same usage limits as the rest of Claude. Anthropic is first making it available to Pro and Max users in the U.S. and has opened a waiting list.

Anthropic said Claude Duet shows users what it plans to do and waits for their approval before sending messages, making payments, signing documents or deleting anything. Even with approval, it cannot trade securities or move money between accounts. A new safety system is designed to reject requests to share credit card numbers or government-issued identification. Anthropic said it would share more details about the app's safety design in the coming days.

Claude Duet can connect to more than 6,000 tools and plugins in the Claude Marketplace. These include Gmail, Slack $WORK 0.00%, QuickBooks, Stripe, Gusto and Shopify $SHOP +0.47%. It can buy items for a business through Link, Stripe's digital wallet, or pay at online stores using Shopify's Shop Pay service.

Anthropic described Claude Duet as an early version that may misunderstand conversations or make mistakes when deciding which issues need attention first. The company said the app is less capable at handling personal tasks, such as booking tickets, because it is mainly designed for professional work. Claude Duet is a separate app from the main Claude app.

Meta launched Muse on Sept. 8 as an AI agent that runs in the cloud. More than 2.5 million people in the U.S. downloaded it in its first two weeks. On an earnings call Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada had signed up for Muse.

OpenAI introduced Dots at its DevDay conference. It described Dots as AI agents that run continuously, use their own cloud computers and connect to more than 4,000 apps. According to CNBC, Meta has mainly promoted its agent to everyday consumers, while OpenAI's product serves both businesses and consumers.