# Meta Muse and Google Gemini AI Agent Strategies

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-09-25

## Transcript

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There's a ton coming to Meta's AI agent Muse, and we're going to talk about it.
I'm Emron Shaikh, and your daily crunch starts right now.
Now, before we get into all things meta, Google is now letting Gemini call businesses with a new feature called Call For Me.
The feature will initially roll out to Pixel 11 owners who pay for a Gemini subscription in the good old US of A.
It will also require the use of the beta version of Google's phone app for Android, as it's still supposed to be an experiment.
While Google has long offered calling features guided by AI, prior versions were limited in what they could do.
With this update, well, Gemini will be able to share personal info that you approve as part of the calls it makes, which the company says will allow it to take a broader set of actions.
Also, Google says users will be able to follow the call as it happens and take over at any time.
Call for me will also use your own personal phone numbers to make calls, which will be dialed directly from your phone.
Google says the AI can handle complex tasks like calling a store to ask if a product is in stock, making restaurant reservations, moving a scheduled appointment to a different date, or placing items on hold.
The AI can call a business and introduce itself, navigate automated phone menus, wait on hold, and then handle the conversation on the other end.
Meanwhile, users can watch how the call proceeds via a live transcript of the conversation.
The launch builds on years of experiments with AI-assisted automated calling technology at Google.
Google said it's starting this experiment at a small scale because real-world conversations are nuanced, and it needs time to get the feature right before rolling it out more broadly.
Meta's personal AI agent Muse is only a few weeks old and the social networking giant isn't wasting any time building out what may be its biggest bet on consumer AI to date.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the company's annual Connect event in Menlo Park on Wednesday with a keynote that made one thing clear.
Meta is going all in on Muse.
The Muse agent, the physical avatar is named Jolly, according to the Zuck, is designed to handle everyday tasks by connecting to users' apps and services, including email and calendars.
At Connect, the Zuck introduced a slew of new capabilities and integrations to make Muse more useful and more deeply woven into users' daily lives.
Muse will be everywhere if the user chooses, including on their pervert glasses, I mean, meta-AI glasses.
Muse, which launched in early September, interacts across a user's devices and digital accounts.
The agent is powered by MuseSpark, Meta's multimodal AI model built for agentic work.
Meta has touted it as a more accessible agent than those offered by competitors, an AI helper that, from the jump, allows users to automate the busy work in their lives.
The Zuck also believes that Muse will make money for its users and, of course, eventually for Meta.
Here are the new features and capabilities that got our attention.
One of the more fun announcements made Wednesday is that Muse users will soon have the ability to conjure a distinct digital avatar for their particular agent and then video chat with it in real-time.
A new AI model, Muse's real-time avatar, has been developed to power the particular feature, the company says.
Now the idea here is that Meta's previously faceless AI software will be given a face, body, and voice, making them significantly more personable.
Now, of course, there's certainly a hint of metaverse-ishness to this feature, which was demoed onstage at Connect.
Users will be able to have live conversations with this avatar, giving it tasks and asking it questions.
Muse will also be integrated with Meta's smart glasses line, the company announced.
Now this means that users will be able to communicate with their agent merely by speaking to their glasses.
The agent activates via a wake word, the company said, adding that it will be able to guide users through a personalized workout, log meals, book an appointment, and help them buy products they see.
Meta said Muse will work in the background and check back in when it's done.
It's not clear exactly when this feature will become available, although Meta says that it should launch sometime in the coming months.
Meta is also saying it's bringing Muse computer work to Mac.
The company had previously talked about Muse coming to Mac and spent more time on Wednesday providing a few new details.
This means that users will be able to delegate tasks to the agent and, much like other popular AI agents from OpenAI and Anthropic, Muse will be able to operate any app on a user's desktop.
Since Muse will always be working in the background, it will naturally need its own email address.
Meta announced it's developing that feature and will make it available soon without providing a more precise timeline.
Users will also be able to add Muse to an email thread or forward emails from the agent to handle on their behalf.
Meta has locked in partnerships with companies like Stripe and Shopify, illustrating that the company sees Muse as an important tool for shopping.
I mean, Muse can access the entire Shopify product catalog agentically and use Link and now ShopPay to buy almost anything on the internet.
And Meta has also added more support for payments with PayPal.
The company also announced a string of new partnerships with retailers, including Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Walmart, and Wayfair.
Muse will be able to connect with these retail apps as well as with Expedia and soon Instacart.
Other connectors include GitHub, Granola, and Notion.
Meta noted that it wants Muse to connect with small business, too.
Meta recently opened its platform to allow developers to build their own connectors.
The company received more than 1,500 applications in less than a week.
And Meta's chief AI officer, Alexander Wang, said, I think this could be a generational opportunity to start building for a new platform as it takes off.
And the response so far has been really great.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch!
Today's stories were reported by Sara Perez, Kirsten Kurosek, Lukas Ropek, and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow.
Same tech time, same crunch channel.
And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.