Meta releases open source code for DIY Muse AI gadgets

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Oct 2, 2026, 21:10 UTC

On October 2, 2026, Meta released open source code enabling developers and hobbyists to build their own hardware devices running Muse, the company's AI agent. The release supports off-the-shelf components, with the ESP32 microcontroller board cited as a core building block. Meta outlined several suggested project types: a color E Ink display configured to show reminders, an HDMI stick that lets users run Muse on a large screen, and a small touchscreen device that would function as a DIY equivalent of Meta's own Muse Charm product.

The move matters because it shifts Muse from a product tied to Meta's own hardware lineup into a platform that can run on custom, user-assembled devices. Open sourcing the code lowers the barrier to entry for experimentation, potentially expanding the range of form factors and use cases well beyond what Meta itself would ship. The genuine question is whether the open source release is deep enough to allow meaningful customization, or whether it is primarily a demonstration layer sitting atop a more closed core, a distinction the available details do not resolve.

None of the three camps have published reactions to this story yet, so their likely positions can only be sketched in broad terms. The Pro-AI camp would typically celebrate this as democratizing access to capable AI agents and rewarding the maker and developer communities. The Anti-AI camp would likely raise concerns about distributing AI agent code widely with limited oversight, particularly around privacy on always-on personal devices. The Middle Ground camp would probably welcome the openness in principle while pushing for clear documentation of what data Muse collects and how it is handled when running on third-party hardware.

The detail worth watching is whether independent developers find the released code sufficient to build genuinely functional devices, or surface meaningful limitations in what Meta has actually opened up. Community builds appearing on hobbyist platforms in the weeks following October 2 would provide the clearest early signal of how substantive the release really is.