Anthropic has entered the crowded market of AI assistants by releasing a new application called Claude Duet, designed to compete with tools like Meta Muse, OpenAI Dots, Hark, Instinct, Grok Bot, and Fo.
According to Anthropic, the new agent targets professionals and small businesses to assist with task management and automation. The firm differentiates Duet from personal agents like Instinct by explaining that Duet cannot handle errands, book tickets, or display its browser activity in real time.
Duet instead generates daily briefings for users, builds dashboards, and proposes actions using user data. Similar to competing agents, Duet finishes tasks in the background via its own virtual machine while users work on other things, returning for approval when necessary.
This release happens as the market moves past standard AI assistants toward agents capable of working independently for users. Many competitors also target business applications, as OpenAI's Dots integrates with professional tools and Meta offers a small business version of Muse that connects to other apps.
Anthropic explains that Duet provides proactive recommendations while tracking ongoing tasks. Powered by the Claude Opus 5.5 model, Duet links to over 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace, and it can complete online purchases for users through Shopify's Shop Pay or Stripe's Link digital wallet.
The business stated that sensitive actions such as payments need user authorization, though Duet cannot trade securities or transfer money between accounts.
Anthropic additionally deployed a new classifier to inspect every message and stop the leakage of sensitive data. The firm noted that the agent declines requests for government identification and credit card numbers by default.
Claude Duet functions as a mobile app on iOS and Android, and on the web via Claude.ai for Pro and Max customers during a research preview, requiring users to sign up for a waitlist.
