Anthropic Releases Claude Duet for Business Automation
The new tool is designed to help professionals and small companies manage tasks rather than personal errands.
By Leila Santos ·
Anthropic released Claude Duet on Thursday, a new agent application designed specifically for professionals and small businesses seeking to automate workflow management. The company positions the tool to compete with other AI assistants entering the market, including Meta Muse, OpenAI Dots, Hark, Instinct, Grok Bot, and Fo.
The system is engineered to handle corporate and administrative needs rather than personal requests. Anthropic notes that Duet cannot perform tasks such as running errands or booking tickets, nor does it provide a visual display of its browser usage while operating. Instead, the application generates daily briefings, builds dashboards, and suggests actions based on available data. The agent operates in the background via its own virtual machine, completing tasks while the user focuses elsewhere. It will pause for user approval whenever necessary.
The launch arrives as the market shifts beyond AI assistants to agents that can work on users' behalf. Many of Anthropic's rivals are focusing on business use cases. While Meta's Muse is a personal AI assistant, the company also released a version to cater to small businesses with connections to other apps. OpenAI's Dots has a business slant as well, with its integration with professional tools.
Anthropic states that Duet proactively delivers its recommendations as it monitors ongoing tasks. Built on the Claude Opus 5.5 model, Duet can connect to over 6,000 connectors and plug-ins in the Claude Marketplace. It can also make online purchases on users' behalf via Stripe's Link digital wallet or Shopify's Shop Pay.
The company said sensitive steps like payments would require user approval. However, Duet won't trade securities or move money between accounts.
Anthropic also released a new classifier to check each message to prevent sensitive information from leaking out. It said that, by default, the agent would turn down requests asking for credit card numbers and government identification.
Claude Duet is available as an app on iOS and Android, and on the web through Claude.ai for Pro and Max customers in research preview. Users have to join a waitlist to try it.
Source: TechCrunch · original report published
