Anthropic previews Claude Duet personal AI agent for subscribers

Anthropic has joined the race to develop AI agents that work autonomously on behalf of humans with Claude Duet, a new app it previewed this week.

The agent competes with Meta's Muse and OpenAI's Dots, rival developers' agents that are already popular with consumers. 

Claude Duet is only available by waitlist as a research preview for Claude U.S. Pro and Max subscribers, according to Anthropic.

What can Claude Duet do? 

Claude Duet works as a "proactive agent" for human customers, taking autonomous actions to complete tasks assigned to it.

"It comes to you with what needs your attention, completes tasks you ask of it, keeps working even when you step away and checks with you before it acts on your behalf," Anthropic said, noting that it was designed for professionals and small business owners "with more on their plates than they can track."

Anthropic said Claude Duet's utility lies in its superior judgment, describing it as smart enough to know what to prioritize and which tasks require a user's attention. 

Each morning, Claude Duet sends its user a daily brief outlining the day's most important items. For the agent to have context, it must be connected to a person's apps, like their email accounts and calendars. Some security professionals have raised concerns about new AI agents' access to such information, warning users to limit how much they share.

"Claude Duet carries over your memory, skills, and connected apps from your Claude account, so setting it up requires minimal work," Anthropic said.

What about security issues?

Anthropic highlighted built-in security measures that it says make the app safe to use, noting that the agent never directly sees a person's passwords or sign-in tokens.

Claude Duet can also handle administrative tasks like scheduling meetings and creating financial or sales forecasts. It can build web apps, too, Anthropic said. It can draft job postings or make purchases on a business owner's behalf. 

Anthropic researchers who have tested the app have used it to manage their to-do lists, build apps, schedule interviews and more. 

How do you sign up?

Anthropic said people can sign up on the waitlist at its Claude Duet product page.

Invitations are issued in waves, and the product is only available in the U.S. during its research preview, the company said.

"We're adding people gradually, and you'll get an email when it's your turn," the company said.