Meta's AI-powered personal assistant, Muse, has already gained a significant following among everyday users for its ability to handle tasks like booking travel, completing online forms, and making purchases on their behalf. Now, the company is extending that ecosystem in a direction that is likely to excite hardware enthusiasts and developers.

On Friday, Meta unveiled Muse Gadgets, an open-source initiative that enables developers and hobbyists to design and build their own physical hardware capable of connecting directly to the Muse platform. The project opens up a new frontier for the AI assistant, moving it beyond screens and smartphones into custom-built devices.

What Meta Is Providing

To help developers get started, Meta is releasing open-source firmware - the low-level software that runs directly on a device - along with a Linux-based software development kit. The company has also put together a handful of starter project ideas to spark creativity. Among the suggested builds are a custom color e-ink display powered by Muse and a dongle that plugs into a television's HDMI port to bring the assistant to a home screen.

The scope of what can be built appears to be intentionally broad. Meta has indicated that users can work with affordable hobbyist hardware such as a Raspberry Pi or a readily available ESP32 microcontroller board, and then integrate Muse with whatever components they have on hand - including displays, physical buttons, environmental sensors, and actuators. In Meta's own words, developers can connect it to "whatever else you've got lying on your workbench."

To support the growing community of builders, Meta has also established a dedicated Discord server where users can exchange ideas, troubleshoot issues, and share their projects.

Meta's Own Hardware Experiment

Meta has not simply released the tools and stepped back. The company has already used the framework to build a working device of its own. Nat Friedman, who leads product development at Meta's Superintelligence Labs, shared details about a gadget called Muse Home Link in a post on X. The device, which is powered via USB-C, allows Muse to connect to a home network and communicate with smart home products, including wireless speakers and internet-connected televisions.

Meta manufactured 5,000 units of the Home Link device and announced it would be distributing them at no cost to Muse subscribers, on a first-come, first-served basis. Given that Friedman's announcement attracted close to 30,000 views within just a few hours of being posted, it is reasonable to assume the available units were claimed quickly. Friedman noted that shipping for the Home Link was expected to begin within a few weeks of the announcement.

Part of a Broader Strategy

While Muse Gadgets may not appeal to the general consumer market, the initiative reflects a deliberate effort by Meta to position Muse as something more substantial than a conversational chatbot. The company has been working on multiple fronts to expand the assistant's reach and usefulness.

Earlier in the same week as the Muse Gadgets announcement, Meta introduced Muse for Small Business, a version of the assistant tailored to the needs of smaller organizations. The offering is available at no cost, subject to usage limits, and comes pre-integrated with widely used business tools such as Shopify, Dropbox, and Slack.

In parallel, Meta has launched a dedicated business division called Meta Enterprise Platform, which is focused on bringing the company's artificial intelligence products to larger corporate clients and enterprise customers. Together, these moves suggest that Meta is pursuing a comprehensive strategy - reaching hobbyists through open-source hardware, small businesses through accessible tooling, and large organizations through a dedicated enterprise arm - all built around the Muse platform.