Victoria Song tests Meta's cute AI

Senior Verge reporter Victoria Song downloaded Muse, Meta's new AI agent, and named it Blorbo. It morphed into a cat-shaped bread with a Kirby face.

Cuteness made her share more data

Song asked Blorbo for a workout regimen. The advice was mediocre, but its cute face made her share more personal health information to improve recommendations.

Meta's mascot is named Jolly

At Meta Connect, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the mascot's name is Jolly. Life-size paper cutouts appeared throughout Meta's campus in adorable outfits.

Meta CTO showed off his Muse agent

Andrew Bosworth demonstrated his Muse agent Cooper, dressed in a pilot outfit. When Cooper waved its pudgy arms, Song felt intense cute aggression.

Muse is coming to multiple devices

The Muse AI agent will appear on Meta's smart glasses and a new standalone wearable called Charm, which combines smartwatch, AI Pin, and Tamagotchi features.

Cuteness is a powerful tool

Humans evolved to find babies cute to become better parents. Japan uses lovable mascots to build community engagement. Cute AI feels less threatening than cold robots.

Song tested Muse with smart glasses

In a demo, Song wore Meta glasses and asked an audio-only Muse agent named Henry about snack nutrition. Henry made mistakes identifying food and failed to add items to a cart.

The real purpose is data harvesting

Song realized Meta could use glasses to track what people eat and target ads based on that data. This feeds an invisible matrix of demographic information Meta can monetize.

Song named it Blorbo to stay detached

Song named her Muse agent Blorbo to remind herself it is not real. She has seen how quickly relationships with AI companions escalate and wanted to maintain boundaries.

Blorbo suggested relationship advice

Song asked Blorbo for relationship goals. It suggested reconnecting with friends, better communication, clearer boundaries, and dating. The cute face made the advice feel weird.

Health struggles make people vulnerable

Song engages with AI mainly for health support. In desperate moments seeking normalcy, people are vulnerable to trying anything. Small pleasures feel amplified.

Cuteness exploits vulnerable moments

Song worries that in her darkest health days, a cute face could make her forget Meta's troubling history while entrusting it with deeply personal information.

“I can imagine a cute face helping me, perhaps only briefly, forgetting how I feel about Meta's history.”

Don't be fooled by the cute face

Song acknowledges Jolly's design is excellent but warns users to remember one thing: a cute mascot should not lower your guard against Meta's data collection practices.

“Don't be fooled by a cute face.”