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Meta Bets Its Future On Muse As Zuckerberg Pushes To Own The Next AI Hardware Layer

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 25, 2026

Mark Zuckerberg has spent years trying to control the hardware layer through which people access Meta’s services. Now, as he positions Muse as the centerpiece of the company’s artificial intelligence strategy, he is making a renewed bet that consumer devices will turn that ambition into a durable business advantage.

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Meta’s New AI Push Arrives Early

At Meta’s annual Connect conference, held a week before OpenAI’s major developer event, the company said that by the end of 2026 there will be more than 100 styles of AI glasses. Zuckerberg also unveiled a new pendant, the Muse Charm, though he did not disclose pricing.

The timing was deliberate. Meta was late to generative AI and has trailed OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, each of which has built a stronger lead with both models and products. Zuckerberg is now attempting to close that gap with Muse, an app designed to function like a personal assistant by handling tasks such as email, travel booking and online shopping.

Investors Are Buying The Hardware Story

Markets have responded positively. Meta’s stock rose 4.5% on Thursday and has gained more than 25% since the company introduced Muse earlier this month. Investors appear willing to give Zuckerberg another chance after Meta failed to create a meaningful consumer market for virtual reality following its rebrand from Facebook to Meta five years ago.

“Meta Connect 2026 more explicitly attached Muse AI as a killer app fused deeply into the hardware strategy, from AR glasses and extending into Muse Charm, a dedicated keychain-like device providing rapid access to Muse,” Mizuho analysts wrote in a Thursday note. The firm, which rates the stock a buy, said Meta’s AI progress should continue to drive multiple expansion in the shares.

A Pendant Built For The AI Era

The Muse Charm looks like a hybrid between a children’s keychain toy and a wearable alert device. Zuckerberg said Meta still needs to finalize the materials and component layout before the product is ready for the holidays.

The device is meant to give users a faster, more direct way to reach their AI agent. Zuckerberg said it will include a fingerprint sensor that activates voice interaction with Muse. Meta also said Muse will soon be integrated into its smart glasses, giving users hands-free access simply by speaking the agent’s name.

Meta Tries To Reduce Its Dependence On Apple

For Zuckerberg, the hardware strategy is also about distribution power. Meta remains dependent on Apple for access to consumers, a vulnerability sharpened after Apple’s 2021 privacy changes reduced the effectiveness of app-based advertising targeting.

Meta has had some success in smart glasses through its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban. The company also introduced slimmer, lighter Meta VR Glasses, which will sell for $1,299 next year. That marks Meta’s first VR launch since the $299 Quest 3S in 2024.

OpenAI Is Moving Toward Hardware Too

The competition is intensifying. As OpenAI prepares for its DevDay conference, expectations are rising that the company could introduce its own long-rumored hardware product. Reports suggest the device may resemble a hockey puck-style speaker. OpenAI declined to comment.

Meta’s recent momentum has also been helped by Muse’s rapid ascent to the top of Apple’s App Store, surpassing ChatGPT. At the same time, OpenAI and Anthropic are facing growing scrutiny over the potential risks of their models, with critics and executives raising alarms about possible harms.

The Real Test Is Consumer Demand

Even with the investor enthusiasm, analysts and operators say the bigger question is whether consumers actually need another device. Smartphones already do much of what Meta is promising, and the Muse Charm must prove it can offer a simpler, faster experience rather than adding friction.

Anthony Ferry, chief executive of e-commerce company Wayvia, said the device would need to be easier to use than a phone. “If I still have to pull out my phone to finish the job or fix the order, it’s just another thing to charge,” he said.

Anshika Jain, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, sees potential in the category. She said Muse Charm reflects a broader shift in how consumers may use AI in daily life, especially when they need context-aware assistance on the move. “At the core is the Muse AI agent, which is designed to understand context and take actions in a faster way rather than just responding to queries,” she said.

Monetization Remains The Critical Question

Meta still has to prove that the surge in interest around Muse is more than a trend. It also needs a viable business model. Amazon has already blocked Muse from scanning its site to shop for customers, following similar restrictions imposed on Perplexity, OpenAI and Google.

Zuckerberg said Meta expects to make money over time by taking a small fee from transactions. That approach, however, raises a practical question for businesses: whether Muse is generating new demand or simply diverting existing demand into Meta’s ecosystem.

“If it brings you a customer you wouldn’t have reached, great,” Ferry said. “But if the same customer buys the same product through another channel, that isn’t automatically a new sale.”

William Blair analyst Ralph Schackart said Meta has outlined a clear monetization model, expecting to generate revenue primarily by taking a small fee on transactions completed through Muse while keeping the product free for most users.

For Zuckerberg, the strategy is familiar: pair software with proprietary hardware, reduce dependence on gatekeepers and create a new consumer habit before rivals can define the market. The difference this time is that the AI boom gives Meta a clearer narrative, and perhaps a faster path to relevance, than the metaverse ever did.

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Meta’s Muse Charm Is More Than A Gimmick — It’s A Bet On Fashionable AI

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 25, 2026

Meta’s newly announced Muse Charm is already prompting a familiar question: is this a clever attempt to make AI feel more approachable to mainstream consumers, or simply the latest entry in a growing graveyard of flashy hardware that failed to catch on?

Early reactions have been mixed. But one thing is clear: the form factor is timely. In a market increasingly shaped by aesthetics, personalization, and nostalgia, the Charm arrives with the right visual language for the moment.

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A Device Designed For A Generation That Likes To Carry Its Personality

For Gen Z consumers, especially, the idea of technology as an accessory is hardly far-fetched. In the post-Labubu era, dangling objects have become cultural currency — from keychains and mini plush toys to beauty products reimagined as bag charms. The appeal is not purely decorative. These items function as signals of identity.

That is precisely why the Charm may resonate. Like the beauty-bag charm trend seen across products such as lip glosses, hand sanitizers, and fragrances, the Muse Charm blends utility with self-expression. It is not just a device. It is a style object.

Hailey Bieber’s Rhode lip case helped push that idea into the mainstream by turning a lip product into something closer to a fashion accessory. The brand’s commercial success underscored how powerful that overlap can be: beauty and utility are no longer separate categories, but increasingly part of the same consumer logic.

The same goes for Labubu, the fuzzy collectible that evolved from niche toy to global phenomenon. While demand for the character may have cooled, the broader bag-charm category has not. Analysts now expect the global market for these accessories to surpass $1 billion by 2030.

The Charm Fits A Wider Retro-Tech Revival

Meta’s Muse Charm also taps into a broader retro-tech movement that has been gaining momentum. Digital cameras, flip phones, iPods, CDs, cassette tapes, wired earbuds, and even landline phones are all finding new life among younger consumers who are increasingly skeptical of always-on, algorithmically optimized technology.

That skepticism has created room for objects that feel tangible, controllable, and personal. For many young people, especially women driving a great deal of this trend, physical tech offers something the digital world often does not: a sense of ownership.

That is part of the appeal behind the growing popularity of so-called cyberdecks, DIY portable computers that are often decorated with jewels, flowers, stickers, pearls, and other embellishments. The point is not just function. It is intimacy.

The Apple Watch Trend Shows The Market Already Exists

There is another, more immediate reference point for Muse Charm: the growing TikTok-driven trend of turning older Apple Watches into keychains, pendants, and bag accessories. Across Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Etsy, thousands of such products already exist, ranging from practical straps to decorative cases.

In many cases, these items are being worn less as gadgets and more as fashion objects. That distinction matters. It suggests the market is already primed for devices that blur the line between technology and accessory — especially when the technology is small enough to personalize and visible enough to signal taste.

In that sense, Meta is not inventing a new behavior so much as trying to package an existing one.

Meta’s Biggest Challenge Is Not Design. It Is Trust.

Still, good timing does not guarantee success. The biggest obstacle facing Muse Charm may not be product-market fit, but Meta itself.

The company has spent years eroding consumer trust through repeated privacy controversies, regulatory penalties, and public scrutiny over harms to minors. That history is difficult to separate from any new device that asks users to invite Meta even deeper into their daily lives.

And that is the central tension. If Muse Charm is positioned as a free or low-cost AI companion, the real currency may not be the hardware itself but the data it generates. Meta has said it plans to monetize Muse through a small transaction fee, but the broader business model is unmistakable: highly personalized advertising powered by highly personal behavior.

For consumers, the calculation may come down to a familiar tradeoff. The device may be playful, fashionable, and culturally on point. But whether users are willing to trust Meta with another layer of their lives is a far harder question.

That may ultimately determine whether Muse Charm becomes a breakout product — or just another well-designed gadget that could not overcome the baggage of the company behind it.