Meta has started rolling out real-time voice conversations and expressive avatars in its Muse AI app, beginning in the US. Users can pick from hundreds of voices, interrupt the assistant mid-sentence and choose how prominently the avatar appears.
What's new in Muse
Meta's newsroom post introduces two pieces of technology: Muse Realtime Voice and Muse Realtime Avatar. Users tap a phone icon in the top-right corner of the app to start talking, on mobile, web and Mac. The avatar reacts with expressions and gestures that follow the tone of the conversation, and Muse keeps working on tasks in the background while you talk.
- Three display modes: voice only, avatar beside the chat, or full screen
- Hundreds of selectable voices, from a New Yorker to a pirate style
- Users can interrupt the assistant mid-response
- Rolling out in the US first; voice for AI glasses and Muse Charm is coming soon
How it was received
Meta pitches the feature for brainstorming, trip planning and rehearsing interviews or presentations. Social Media Today was sceptical, noting that Meta's earlier celebrity-styled chatbots were shut down and questioning whether talking avatars are something users want.
Adoption numbers matter here. Meta has been positioning Muse as a central AI product, so voice is part of a push to make the app a daily habit rather than an occasional tool.
Why it matters for advertisers
There are no ad placements in Muse announced here, and nothing in the post covers advertising. The relevance is strategic: the more time people spend talking to Meta's assistant, the more Meta learns about intent, and the more likely conversational surfaces become future ad or commerce inventory.
For now, the actionable side is creative. Voice-led, conversational formats are where Meta is steering user behaviour, so testing ads that sound natural when heard rather than read, such as spoken hooks in Reels, is a reasonable hedge.
What it means for you
- No Muse ad inventory exists yet; don't plan budget around it
- Watch for commerce or ad features in Muse as usage grows
- Test conversational, spoken-word hooks in Reels creative
- US-only for now; other markets have no announced date
