Meta’s Muse can now place calls to U.S. businesses for paid users

In short: Meta says its Muse AI assistant can now place outbound phone calls to U.S. businesses, but the feature is only available to paid subscribers.

What happened

Meta is expanding a phone calling feature in Muse, its consumer AI assistant. Muse can now call U.S. businesses on a user’s behalf, after Meta previously tested the feature with a smaller group.

The company says the calling tool is meant for tasks people often avoid, like calling a cable company, the DMV (the government office for driver’s licenses), or a restaurant that does not take online reservations. Think of it like asking a helper to sit on hold and handle the basic back and forth for you.

The calling feature is not free. Meta says only paid Muse subscribers can use it. Muse subscriptions start at $20 per month, and include a set amount of “tokens” (a meter that tracks how much AI work you use, like minutes on a phone plan). A higher tier costs $100 per month and includes more tokens.

Meta is not alone in offering AI-made calls. TechCrunch notes that the startup Instinct and Google’s Gemini have also tested or offered similar features. But it can be hit or miss, since some businesses hang up when they realize they are speaking to an AI instead of a person.

Why it matters

For many people, phone support is slow and frustrating. If these tools work reliably, they could save time. At the same time, businesses may need new rules for handling AI callers, especially as AI voices become harder to tell apart from human voices.

Source: TechCrunch AI