A "digital pet" reveals Zuckerberg's ambitions in AI hardware.

Zuckerberg pulled a handheld device from his pocket that could be attached to a keychain, housing his company's most popular AI assistant, Muse, on a small 2-inch screen. This product, named Muse Charm, represents Meta's first step into the independent AI hardware field after betting on the "personal superintelligence" track.

At the Meta Connect annual conference on September 23rd local time, Zuckerberg personally unveiled the device. The Muse Charm is equipped with a 5G modem, allowing users to wake up the Muse AI assistant directly without needing to turn on their phones. The design intent is clear— to bypass the operating system ecosystems of Apple and Google, creating a hardware entry point for Meta's AI. Zuckerberg defines it as the "fastest way" to talk to Muse without wearing smart glasses.

The timing of Muse Charm's release is significant. Since its launch on September 8th, the Muse app garnered approximately 730,000 downloads in about five days, according to Sensor Tower, quickly surpassing 2.5 million. Its daily active user base exceeded that of ChatGPT during its launch period, and it topped the US iOS free app chart. Investors were already pricing in this momentum—shares of Muse partners like Shopify rose, while companies considered vulnerable, such as Booking and Intuit, experienced a sell-off.

Former Apple design chief oversees rapid development in nine months

The creation of Muse Charm is itself an extraordinary story of hardware development.

According to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, the project was only officially launched in March of this year, with the initial requirement being extremely straightforward: "We want to launch hardware that doesn't yet exist this year." Meta originally planned to launch the device in 2027, but after seeing the early prototypes, Zuckerberg asked the team to compress the timeline to the end of 2026. Nine months later, Muse Charm appeared on the launch stage.

This product is the result of two core design executives poached by Meta from Apple at the end of last year—former Apple UI design chiefs Alan Dye and Billy Sorrentino. The two previously led the iOS interface and Apple Watch interaction design, and their departure forced a major restructuring of Apple's internal design team. After joining Meta, they were responsible for establishing the company's new design lab, and Muse Charm is one of the first results jointly developed by this lab and Meta's super AI team.

The device's internal codename is "Clawmagochi," a name that is half taken from Tamagotchi, the electronic pet that swept the world in the 1990s, and half from the team's inspiration for the OpenClaw AI assistant. In a media interview, Bosworth admitted that the speed at which the project progressed still feels "somewhat incredible" to him—the entire design and manufacturing process took place within the same calendar year.

Currently, the Muse Charm is still in a very early stage: the final material for the casing has not yet been determined, and Meta has only produced a small number of prototypes, but plans to officially launch it before the holiday shopping season in December this year.

Product form: A handheld AI companion

From a hardware perspective, the design boundaries of the Muse Charm are quite clearly defined—it knows it is not a phone.

The device features an approximately 2-inch OLED touchscreen and a semi-transparent casing, with the internal circuit board clearly visible through the back and sides, showcasing what Zuckerberg calls an "upgraded hacker aesthetic" and a distinct Y2K retro style. Users can attach it to a keychain, secure it to a backpack with a lanyard, or simply wear it on their wrist.

At the center of the screen is a fully customizable virtual Muse avatar, whose name, appearance, clothing, voice, accent, and speaking speed can be customized. A fingerprint sensor in the upper right corner of the device directly wakes up the Muse, eliminating the need to unlock the phone and open apps. A built-in 5G modem allows access to the Muse without relying on Wi-Fi and supports music and video playback. It also features front and rear cameras, a microphone, a speaker, and a USB-C port.

When two Muse Charms approach each other, the devices can recognize each other, and the two AI virtual characters will interact—Meta adds a social layer of the physical world to AI agents.

However, Charm is not completely decoupled from mobile phones. Initial setup and data synchronization still need to be completed through the Muse app on iPhone or Android, and the method for charging 5G network fees has not yet been announced.

Market prospects: Gen Z might be a hit, but mass adoption is another matter.

Analysts are cautious about the market potential of Muse Charm, but do not rule out the possibility of it gaining traction among specific groups.

IDC Director Jitesh Ubrani points out that Charm targets users who are unwilling to wear smart glasses, while also evoking collective memories of the Tamagotchi era. "Some people might remember Tamagotchi, and this product might bring back that feeling," he says. "It might even run a small language model locally, running AI in such a small device."

Linda Sui, founder of market research firm Smart Analytics Global, believes that Muse Charm has a certain appeal to Generation Z and younger consumers —this generation tends to view AI assistants as companions or thinking partners rather than simply search tools, coinciding with a resurgence of retro trends in digital cameras, flip phones, and MP3 players. "The combination of AI, fashion, and personalization, if priced affordably and easy to use, could indeed be attractive to young users."

However, Sui also cautioned that the path to mass market penetration is unclear: "I'm cautious about its mass market potential. Unless the Muse Charm offers unique features that smartphones, watches, headphones, or smart glasses can't easily replace, it's more likely to be an 'option' for early adopters than a mainstream product."

The same lessons can be learned from the past. When the Rabbit R1 handheld device from AI hardware startup Rabbit Inc. was released in early 2024, it also attracted widespread attention, but ultimately failed due to excessive promises of AI features and unstable actual experience.

Meta's real strategy: hardware experimentation, not a desperate gamble.

In a post-launch interview, Bosworth was surprisingly candid about the positioning of the Muse Charm. He admitted that the Charm is not a core pillar of Meta's AI hardware strategy: "Obviously, we expect more people to use Muse through smart glasses and smartphones." He characterized the product as an "exploration," a "classic v0 version."

For Meta, Charm undertakes a specific business validation task: after Muse has accumulated a core group of users willing to continuously use and deeply customize their AI roles, the test is whether enough of them are willing to purchase a dedicated physical portal for AI. In other words, Muse has already answered the question "Are there people willing to use personal intelligent agents?", and the next question Charm needs to answer is "Are there people willing to carry personal intelligent agents with them?"

According to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter, the Muse Charm will be priced in the same range as other smartwatches on the market. The first batch of products will be mainly aimed at Muse core users and early tech enthusiasts, with subsequent versions depending on market response.

According to Meta's roadmap, Charm is just the first step in taking Muse off the phone screen. Zuckerberg stated at the launch event that Muse will soon be integrated into Meta's smart glasses product line, allowing users to give commands via voice while driving, cooking, or exercising, without needing to pick up any screen.

This founder, who once bet heavily on the metaverse and later shifted his bet to AI, is now arguing that toys are often the initial disguise of the next generation of computing platforms.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerInvesting involves risk; please exercise caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Any investment decisions made based on this information are at your own risk.