**Meta’s September 8 launch of Muse—a proactive personal AI agent running on a dedicated per-user cloud VM with its own browser, persistent memory, and ability to act autonomously across connected apps—has established the benchmark for “Muse-like” agents.** OpenAI followed quickly with its Dots rollout on September 29, using GPT-6 Astra in isolated cloud environments that connect to thousands of apps and operate in the background. Microsoft is expanding previews of its Autopilot (formerly Scout) persistent agents within Microsoft 365, while Anthropic has advanced Claude’s computer-use tools, browser agents, and marketplace integrations but has not yet confirmed a dedicated per-user cloud VM product. A new Personal Agent Protocol announced October 9 by Meta and partners aims to standardize agent commerce and access. These rapid releases and previews, combined with tight timelines to year-end 2026, shape trader views on which labs can deliver qualifying launches first.