Remember Tamagotchis?
Tiny digital creatures you fed, cared for and desperately tried not to accidentally kill?
Well, apparently they needed AI.
Meta has introduced Muse Charm, a small AI-powered companion that takes the virtual-pet idea and gives it a very 2026 update.
Instead of caring for a pixelated creature living inside a tiny plastic egg, the concept revolves around interacting with an AI character that can develop through your interactions.
Basically: Tamagotchi meets chatbot.
And depending on how you feel about AI becoming emotionally involved in increasingly random corners of everyday life, that sentence is either adorable or the opening scene of Black Mirror.
The product taps into something tech companies are clearly obsessed with right now: making AI feel less like software you deliberately open and more like a companion that’s simply around.
We’ve already watched AI move from websites into phones, browsers, glasses, toys and wearables. Turning it into a cute digital creature feels almost inevitable.
It also makes AI considerably easier to emotionally connect with.
People already felt genuine guilt when their Tamagotchi died in 2004. Give that creature memory, personality and the ability to actually talk back and things become much more interesting.
Or much weirder.Probably both.
Either way, we’ve apparently reached the stage of the AI revolution where your chatbot needs feeding.
Please take care of him.
