Meta's Muse AI Agent and Muse Charm Hardware Take Spotlight From OpenAI and Anthropic

TechCrunch reported that Anthropic rolled out Opus 5.5, and OpenAI followed with GPT-6 model updates 90 minutes later. The outlet noted that the releases came after AI leaders at OpenAI and Anthropic had talked about 'pacing the frontier.' Even so, TechCrunch said Meta stole the spotlight. The company's personal AI agent Muse is reportedly outpacing ChatGPT's early numbers and is headed for smart glasses and a tiny Tamagotchi-style device next, according to the report. On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha and Sean O'Kane discussed Meta's consumer AI strategy, what it means for startups building on top of the technology, where money is flowing and which AI products might become part of daily life.

CNBC reported that Meta's surprise release of Muse Charm, a consumer hardware product that uses the company's artificial intelligence, followed the wildly successful launch of Muse. The keychain-sized device is designed to let users interact with Meta's AI anytime and represents Meta's ambition to bypass the Apple-and-Google duopoly, CNBC said. Earlier Meta hardware releases proved less successful than originally hoped, according to the report. At its Connect event, Meta also introduced lighter-weight virtual reality goggles and new audio-only smart glasses, CNBC reported. Muse is already securing deep retail integrations that allow the AI to connect with Walmart, Best Buy and Gap, the report said. CNBC described Meta as rapidly becoming the foundational layer for how consumers interact with agentic AI.

CNBC also focused on the market reaction. It said Meta shares have become the market's muse, and the surge has affected options prices. Meta's one-month implied volatility is hovering at about 44%, roughly one standard deviation above its 37% mean over the past year, suggesting near-term option premiums are historically rich, according to CNBC. In a CNBC Pro piece attributed to Mike Khouw, the suggested strategy was a near-dated short strangle, perhaps about a month out, such as the Oct. 30 expiration. Traders could write an out-of-the-money call and an out-of-the-money put for late October to harvest elevated premium as time value decays, then use the premium to help finance a longer-dated January long call. Even if the longer-dated call costs more than the nearer-dated options collect, the trade's carry can still be positive because short-dated options have more theta, CNBC said. The article said the ideal outcome would be Meta shares staying between $700 and $900 by October expiration and then rallying into the end of the year. CNBC said the structure effectively subsidizes the out-of-pocket cost for the January call, giving leveraged bullish exposure to Meta into the new year. The CNBC Pro piece concluded that Meta looks primed for a powerful breakout into 2027. It included a disclosure that Tidal owns or holds all securities mentioned.

TechCrunch's Equity episode also covered other topics. The hosts discussed a16z's Horowitz Andreessen Academy, which plans to pave a new path for aspiring founders; the Equity crew sees echoes of the Thiel Fellowship and Silicon Valley's long-running anti-college streak, according to TechCrunch. They also discussed Oura's $2.2 billion IPO, which TechCrunch said looks more like a payday for existing shareholders than a major fundraising event for the company. In addition, Ema raised $77 million to sell teams of AI agents that automate HR, IT and finance workflows, with Google and Microsoft among its early enterprise customers, TechCrunch reported.