Anthropic has officially stepped into the next phase of artificial intelligence with the launch of Claude Duet. Unveiled as a standalone AI agent app, the tool is designed specifically to help professionals and small-business owners manage their routine daily work.Unlike conventional AI chatbots that sit idle until you type a prompt, Claude Duet is designed to be proactive.

It identifies information that needs your attention and keeps working on assigned tasks even when you step away from your screen.An AI that works in the backgroundPowered by Anthropic's new Opus 5.5 model, Claude Duet operates on its own cloud-based virtual machine. This means you can give the AI a task, close your laptop, and it will continue to work independently.

It monitors connected applications and brings important updates right to your screen. This reduces the hassle of manually switching between different apps to gather information.Through the Claude Marketplace, the agent connects with more than 6,000 applications, including everyday workplace tools like Gmail and Slack.

It can deliver daily morning briefings, schedule meetings, build live web dashboards, and prepare detailed financial forecasts. It can even facilitate digital purchases using Stripe’s Link wallet and Shopify’s Shop Pay.

Explaining the agent's capabilities in a blog post, Anthropic said that Claude Duet comes to you with what needs attention, completes the tasks you ask of it, keeps working when you step away, and always checks with you before acting on your behalf.Human approval is a mustWhile Claude Duet is built to work on its own, Anthropic has put strict guardrails in place to prevent mistakes. The AI requires explicit user approval before it takes any sensitive action.

It will pause and ask for permission before sending a message, making a payment, signing a document, or deleting any information. Furthermore, high-risk financial actions like trading securities or moving money between bank accounts are completely blocked.

Anthropic has also cautioned users that the agent is not perfect. It may occasionally misread the context of conversations or misjudge which tasks are actually urgent.

Because the app is still in an early research preview, the company noted that personal chores, like booking travel tickets, are not among its strongest skills right now.Currently, Claude Duet is rolling out via a waitlist exclusively for Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US.The race for AI agents heats upThe introduction of Claude Duet heats up the ongoing battle among tech giants to build the ultimate AI agent. Anthropic's launch comes right as rivals like OpenAI and Meta release their own automated systems.Meta recently launched its Muse personal AI agent, which has seen massive early adoption.

During Meta's third-quarter earnings call, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg revealed that more than 10 million people across the US and Canada had already set up Muse agents within just six weeks.Meanwhile, OpenAI recently took the wraps off its always-on Dots agents at its annual developer conference, which are built to pursue goals across platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack.While Meta is currently focusing heavily on consumer assistance and OpenAI is spanning both everyday consumers and businesses, Anthropic is taking a highly targeted approach by aiming Claude Duet strictly at workplace productivity.- Ends