In the style of the late Steve Jobs’ famous “one more thing,” when Apple’s co-founder would save his biggest surprise until audiences thought a product launch was nearly over, Mark Zuckerberg last week unveiled Meta’s next gadget at the company’s annual developer conference: the Muse Charm.
The new device strongly resembles the Tamagotchi toys of the 1990s. It is a small, keychain-like gadget attached to a loop, with a tiny camera and microphones built into its front. Zuckerberg revealed few details about the device, which is expected to launch officially in December, promising that more information would come later.
When Tamagotchi first appeared in the 1990s, it became an international craze within months, selling tens of millions of units. Its concept was simple but compelling: owners were responsible for raising a tiny virtual creature that “lived” inside the device on a small LCD screen.
Meta’s 2026 version retains the basic idea of a physical home for a personal virtual character that can be carried in a pocket.
This time, however, users will not be responsible for raising it. The relationship is reversed: the virtual character is there to serve them as a personal assistant. Users will be able to speak naturally to it and ask it to carry out relatively complex tasks, including searching the internet, filling out forms, making purchases and booking travel.
In practice, the Charm will provide direct access to Muse, Meta’s personal AI agent launched earlier this month, without requiring users to open a smartphone or enter an app.
‘Attempt to get kids hooked’
Meta insists the Muse Charm is intended only for adults. Muse, the AI agent behind the device, is restricted to users aged 18 and over. Yet the device’s cute mascot, which resembles a character somewhere between a Teletubby and a digital pet, looks to critics much more like a carefully designed children’s toy.
Security researchers, psychologists and child-safety advocates have already raised objections to the design and questioned Meta’s decision to use a character they argue is likely to appeal to children.
“This really feels like a completely inappropriate attempt by Meta to get young kids hooked on Muse,” one child-safety advocate said.
The White Hatter, an internet-safety organization that includes technology specialists and mental-health advocates, has also examined the possible implications of the device.
Unlike the original Tamagotchi, which responded to simple button presses, Muse Charm is designed to support extended voice conversations, retain information about its owner and respond in ways that can appear empathetic.
The group warned that children and teenagers can be particularly susceptible to anthropomorphizing AI and could develop emotional attachments to a device that appears to be constantly available to listen and respond, despite there being no actual person behind it.
Other experts interviewed by Wired compared Meta’s approach with the cute mascots frequently used in Japan to make technology and other products more approachable, an aesthetic that has become deeply embedded in Japanese popular culture.
Muse Charm
(Photo: Meta)
Marketing experts believe Meta has deliberately invested in making the product appear friendly and non-threatening, potentially helping the company overcome skepticism surrounding its broader technology business.
Meta has faced years of criticism, litigation and regulatory scrutiny over allegations that its social-media platforms can encourage addictive patterns of use, particularly among younger users.
More severe critics argue that packaging potentially risky technology in something that looks and feels like a toy creates an additional reason for concern.
A camera that watches
Privacy advocates are also raising questions. The Muse Charm includes a camera and microphones that can feed information into its AI system in real time. Jathan Sadowski, an associate professor at Monash University in Australia who studies emerging technologies, has warned that the device could become a powerful data-collection tool.
“Design features like being cute and frictionless, or tapping into nostalgia for devices that didn’t constantly surveil and intervene in our lives, are sly ways to make people drop their guard, stop asking critical questions, and slip into being passive users,” Sadowski said.
“Agents like Muse are trying to convince us they’re just a cute little guy who lives in your pocket, and definitely not an always-open portal into the servers of a major surveillance company.”
The concern is that the more harmless and familiar such a device feels, the more willing users may become to share sensitive information, including personal conversations, images and other private data, while feeling as though they are speaking to a companion rather than interacting with a technology platform.
The device’s camera also raises questions about people other than its owner. Family members, friends, classmates, teachers and others nearby could potentially be captured by a device they did not choose to use and may not realize is collecting information.
Meta has rejected claims that the design is intended to attract children. “This is a story in search of a story,” Meta spokesperson Daniel Roberts told Wired. “People want to be able to create their own avatar with personality and unique style, because it’s fun and brings them joy.”
Roberts said Meta requires everyone using Muse to provide their date of birth and carries out additional checks aimed at keeping minors off the service.
“We require everyone using the Muse app to provide their date of birth, we block people we detect may be under 18 from creating an account, and we do additional checks to help ensure people who say they’re adults are actually over 18,” he said.
On privacy, Meta says users can opt out of having their Muse interactions used to train its AI models and says information collected by the service is protected by the company’s security systems.