TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 11,524
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
Laser-targeted cuteness for everyone and no one.
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I hate the new mascot for Meta's Muse AI assistant. The company unveiled the fluffy creature, as well as the Tamagotchi-esque Muse Charm device it will call home, (plus a VR headset that isn't really a VR headset) during its yearly Meta Connect conference last week.
The goal with Muse is to offer an AI assistant that "you can talk to in real time and reach in more places throughout your day," according to Meta. User's own Muse avatars can look wildly different, but the furry fiend default avatar that has so offended me is the company face of the entire Muse operation. The mascot's name is 'Jolly' on account of its "jolly and completely customizable character and personality," according to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg (via NBC News).
I hate that this little freak has inspired such a depth of feeling in me. I mean, just look at it. It also doesn't help that it looks a bit like a Doctor Who creature, the Adipose. Whenever I see this thing, I just think about that one scene where a character screams as she explodes into a puddle of sentient fat.
Setting that horrifying image aside, everything about the Muse mascot's design makes me cringe as a connoisseur of cute. The rounded edges, the fur, the blank but pleasant expression—it's all so laser-targeted to mass market appeal that it makes my skin crawl.
Wired compares it to a Labubu, and asks 'Meta’s Muse Is Adults-Only. Why Does It Look Like a Kids’ Toy?' Indeed, at Connect 2026, Mark Zuckerberg made his avatar play dress up like a doll, with the mascot donning a toga.
System 1's chief growth officer, Andrew Tindall, gives further voice to some of my own reservations, saying to Business Insider that Meta is leveraging "our innate draw to cute, infant-like features, to make surprising new technology easier to accept."
VaynerX CMO Avery Akkineni also told the outlet, "In some ways, it does humanize the product a little bit. I am certain that their intention is to make this more widely available and accessible than just for the early-adopter crowd."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Given that Meta may have excess AI data centre capacity, and may be feeling the pressure to see a return on that investment, it's unsurprising it would attempt to pitch Muse to the broadest audience possible. Besides that, efforts to 'humanise' AI and machine learning tech in general are nothing new, and putting a cute face on a product perhaps hungry for your personal data is an obvious play.
Unfortunately, Meta's mascot inspires a feeling stronger than just dispensing with social niceties—this is the face of something I want to punt very far away from myself.
1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16
2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L
3. Best handheld gaming PC: Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT
5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3
👉Check out our list of guides👈
Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending a significant chunk of that time working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not investigating all things hardware here, she's either constructing a passionate defence of a 7/10 game, daydreaming about her debut novel, or feeling wistful about the last time she chased some nerds around a field with an oversized foam sword.
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Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
I hate the new mascot for Meta's Muse AI assistant. The company unveiled the fluffy creature, as well as the Tamagotchi-esque Muse Charm device it will call home, (plus a VR headset that isn't really a VR headset) during its yearly Meta Connect conference last week.
The goal with Muse is to offer an AI assistant that "you can talk to in real time and reach in more places throughout your day," according to Meta. User's own Muse avatars can look wildly different, but the furry fiend default avatar that has so offended me is the company face of the entire Muse operation. The mascot's name is 'Jolly' on account of its "jolly and completely customizable character and personality," according to company CEO Mark Zuckerberg (via NBC News).
I hate that this little freak has inspired such a depth of feeling in me. I mean, just look at it. It also doesn't help that it looks a bit like a Doctor Who creature, the Adipose. Whenever I see this thing, I just think about that one scene where a character screams as she explodes into a puddle of sentient fat.
Setting that horrifying image aside, everything about the Muse mascot's design makes me cringe as a connoisseur of cute. The rounded edges, the fur, the blank but pleasant expression—it's all so laser-targeted to mass market appeal that it makes my skin crawl.
Wired compares it to a Labubu, and asks 'Meta’s Muse Is Adults-Only. Why Does It Look Like a Kids’ Toy?' Indeed, at Connect 2026, Mark Zuckerberg made his avatar play dress up like a doll, with the mascot donning a toga.
System 1's chief growth officer, Andrew Tindall, gives further voice to some of my own reservations, saying to Business Insider that Meta is leveraging "our innate draw to cute, infant-like features, to make surprising new technology easier to accept."
VaynerX CMO Avery Akkineni also told the outlet, "In some ways, it does humanize the product a little bit. I am certain that their intention is to make this more widely available and accessible than just for the early-adopter crowd."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Given that Meta may have excess AI data centre capacity, and may be feeling the pressure to see a return on that investment, it's unsurprising it would attempt to pitch Muse to the broadest audience possible. Besides that, efforts to 'humanise' AI and machine learning tech in general are nothing new, and putting a cute face on a product perhaps hungry for your personal data is an obvious play.
Unfortunately, Meta's mascot inspires a feeling stronger than just dispensing with social niceties—this is the face of something I want to punt very far away from myself.
1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16
2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L
3. Best handheld gaming PC: Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT
5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3
👉Check out our list of guides👈
Jess has been writing about games for over ten years, spending a significant chunk of that time working on print publications PLAY and Official PlayStation Magazine. When she’s not investigating all things hardware here, she's either constructing a passionate defence of a 7/10 game, daydreaming about her debut novel, or feeling wistful about the last time she chased some nerds around a field with an oversized foam sword.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?