Meta has announced the Muse Charm, a small AI device designed to hang from a bag or keychain. Early reactions to the gadget have been mixed.
The device has drawn comparisons to the Tamagotchi. That pocket-sized digital pet was a popular toy in the late 1990s and again in the mid-2000s.
Users can design their own avatar for the Muse AI agent. This lets the character reflect the personality of the person using it.
Some observers have asked whether the Muse Charm will follow other AI gadgets that did not catch on. These include the Ai Pin, the Rabbit, and the Friend pendant.
The Bag Charm Trend Behind the Design
The Muse Charm arrives as bag charms have become popular with Gen Z shoppers, mostly young women. Lip glosses, hand sanitizers, sunblocks, and fragrances are now sold as items that dangle from bags.
Hailey Bieber's beauty brand Rhode helped drive the idea with its lip case, which attached lip gloss to a phone case. Vogue reported the brand made $212 million in annual net sales from about 10 products before its billion-dollar sale to Elf Beauty.
The Labubu craze also played a role. Sales of the fuzzy monster charm helped Pop Mart grow its revenue to $1.8 billion in 2024, seven times higher than in 2019.
Demand for Labubu has since faded, but interest in bag charms has not. One analyst firm estimates the global bag charm market will top $1 billion by 2030.
The Muse Charm also resembles something young people already do with the Apple Watch. Many are turning older watches into keychains or charms, a trend fueled by TikTok videos.
Thousands of Apple Watch keychains, pendants, clips, and bag charm cases are sold on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Etsy. Younger women often treat these watches as fashion accessories first.
The trend overlaps with a return of older technology. Digital cameras, flip phones, iPods, CDs, cassette tapes, and wired earbuds have all seen renewed interest.
Some young people say algorithm-driven feeds make them feel disconnected, and they want technology they can touch. The startup Clicks, for example, is bringing back the physical phone keyboard in a BlackBerry-inspired device.
Some young women have even built their own mini computers, called cyberdecks. They place them in clamshell purses and decorate them with jewels, stickers, and pearls.
Meta's Privacy Record
Meta's history on privacy could affect how consumers view the device. The company settled with the FTC over charges that it made users' private information public without their consent.
In 2023, the FTC charged Meta with violating a privacy order tied to its 2019 settlement. Meta has also been called before Congress and faced several lawsuits over harms to minors.
Meta said it will make money from Muse by taking a small fee from transactions.
