What you need to know
- Anthropic launched Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent in research preview on Android, iOS, and the web, powered by Claude Opus 5.5.
- Duet runs in its own virtual machine and doesn't need an open chat window to function.
- The US research preview requires a waitlist and a Claude Pro or Max subscription, with background tasks counting toward existing usage limits.
Anthropic is bringing Claude more into your work life. The company has launched Claude Duet, a proactive AI agent that works in the background and only nags you when something really needs your attention.
Available in research preview on Android, iOS, and the web, Claude Duet is designed for professionals and small business owners who are juggling multiple projects, and it’s powered by Anthropic’s model, the Claude Opus 5.5.
Duet breaks the mold of traditional chatbots. Every morning it gives you a rundown of the important stuff from the apps you connect to it, then it checks throughout the day to see if anything has changed and alerts you when something needs your attention. You can also assign it tasks from scheduling meetings to building dashboards, preparing financial and sales forecasts, and prototyping and developing web apps.
Duet doesn’t rely on you to keep the conversation going like a chatbot would, as it runs inside its own virtual machine so it can keep working even when you aren’t there. It also tries to exercise judgment about what deserves your attention and when it should ask you for permission before acting.
When an AI agent has access to work messages and sensitive information, privacy is a major concern. Duet does not directly access passwords or sign-in tokens, Anthropic says, and has safeguards in place to prevent the unauthorized sharing of highly sensitive data, such as credit card numbers and government IDs. The company said it also tested the system for security reasons.
But Duet's not ready to take over your whole life. Anthropic admits the first version can be overly enthusiastic and that personal tasks like booking tickets aren’t the best fit for this model. And it still can't show users its browser, so it's not easy to see what it does behind the scenes.
The launch places Anthropic in the same growing crowd as Meta Muse and OpenAI Dots, which are also pursuing AI assistants that can act instead of merely answering questions.
Currently only available in the US on a waitlist, it requires a Claude Pro or Max subscription. Duet has the same usage limits as the rest of Claude, and work done in the background counts toward them. Thus, outsourcing your workload doesn’t mean free AI labor for all.
