OpenAI's New AI 'Dots' Can Work While You're Away
Your AI assistant is turning into an employee you have to supervise.
Both OpenAI and Meta used this week to show off the same big idea: AI that doesn't wait for you to type a question. These are called "agents" — AI that can take actions for you instead of just chatting. You give one a goal, walk away, and it keeps working in the background. OpenAI unveiled its version, called Dots, at its DevDay event on Sept. 29. Meta's version, Muse, had already been shown off. Same concept, two very different targets.
OpenAI is aiming Dots squarely at your job. Each Dot runs on GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI's newest AI model) and gets its own cloud computer and web browser, so it can log into things on your behalf. It connects to more than 4,000 apps and talks to you through ChatGPT, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, with text messaging promised later. In OpenAI's example, one Dot reads customer complaints, spots a recurring bug, writes and tests a fix, then hands the finished code to a human for approval. Think of it as a junior colleague who never sleeps — and never stops asking what's next.
Meta's Muse uses similar plumbing but aims at your personal life. It also gets its own browser and keeps going after you close the app, and you reach it through Meta's own app or WhatsApp. Meta has shown it booking travel, sending emails, organizing events, haggling over bills, building shopping lists, and actually making purchases. To pay for things safely, Muse uses Stripe's Link with one-time card numbers, so your real card details are never handed to the AI or the merchant. Meta says support for Shop Pay and 1Password is coming.
The honest catch is access. To file your receipts or rebook your flight, these agents need the keys to your accounts — email, calendar, bank, work systems. That's a real security question, not a small one. Companies will have to decide not just what an AI can read, but what it's allowed to actually do, and which actions still need a human to say yes. In practice, your next AI assistant may be less of a servant and more of a trainee you manage.
- OpenAI's Dots and Meta's Muse are 'agents' — AI that completes tasks over hours or days, not just answers one question at a time.
- OpenAI is focused on work (code fixes, sales proposals, research updates) while Meta is focused on daily life (bills, travel, shopping).
- Muse can pay for things using Stripe one-time card numbers, so your real card number is never shared with the AI or the seller.
Why It Matters
You may soon delegate real errands and work tasks to AI — but you'll also be handing it your passwords and logins.