Anthropic Launches Claude Duet, a Background AI Agent for Claude Pro and Max Subscribers in the US
Anthropic has launched Claude Duet, a new AI assistant that works on its own in the background. It tells users when something needs their attention instead of waiting for them to ask questions. The company has released Claude Duet as an early test version, called a research preview, for Android, iOS, and the web. For now, it is only available to people in the United States who join a waiting list and have a paid Claude Pro or Max subscription.
Claude Duet uses Claude Opus 5.5, an AI model made by Anthropic. The company says the assistant is designed for professionals and small business owners who need to manage several projects at the same time.
How Claude Duet Works in the Background
Claude Duet does not need users to keep giving it instructions. Every morning, it gives users a summary of important information from the apps they have connected to it. During the day, it checks those apps again to see what has changed. If something needs the user's attention or action, it sends an alert.
Users can also ask Claude Duet to complete certain jobs. Anthropic gives these examples:
- Planning and scheduling meetings
- Creating dashboards that show important information
- Making predictions about future finances and sales
- Creating early versions of web apps and helping develop them
Claude Duet works inside its own virtual computer. This means it can keep doing tasks even when the user is away or does not have a chat window open. According to Anthropic, Duet also tries to decide which events are important enough to tell the user about and when it should ask for permission before doing something.
Privacy is an important concern because the assistant can access work messages and other private information. Anthropic says Claude Duet cannot directly access passwords or sign-in tokens, which are used to log in to accounts. The company also says it has safety measures to stop the assistant from sharing very sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and government ID numbers, without permission. Anthropic says it has also tested the system for security problems.
Claude Duet Availability and Known Limitations
People in the United States who want to try Claude Duet need a paid subscription and must follow these steps:
- Sign up for Claude Pro or Claude Max. Claude Duet is not available with free accounts.
- Join the Claude Duet waiting list, which is currently only open to people in the United States.
- Once access is approved, connect the apps that Duet should check for its morning summaries and alerts during the day.
- Watch how much Claude you use, because tasks running in the background count toward the same usage limits as other Claude activities.
The last point is especially important for people who use Claude a lot. Claude Duet uses the same usage allowance as regular Claude chats. This means that work Duet does while someone is offline still counts toward their existing limits.
Anthropic has also explained some problems with this early version. The company says Duet can sometimes be too eager to help or take action. It also says the assistant is not well suited for personal jobs such as booking tickets. Claude Duet also cannot show users the browser it is using yet. This makes it harder for people to see exactly what the assistant is doing in the background.
With this launch, Anthropic joins Meta Muse and OpenAI Dots in developing AI assistants that can take action for users instead of only answering their questions. Anthropic has not said when Claude Duet will move beyond its research preview or become available outside the United States waiting list.