Anthropic Launches Proactive AI Agent Claude Duet On Claude Opus 5.5
Anthropic has introduced Claude Duet, a proactive artificial intelligence agent powered by the Claude Opus 5.5 model and aimed at small business owners, consultants and professionals, opening a research preview waitlist for Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the United States, NDTV Gadgets 360, Computerworld and Analytics Insight reported. Introduced on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, as a standalone app on iOS, Android and the web at claude.ai, Claude Duet runs on its own virtual machine with a built-in browser so it can check connected accounts every few hours, prepare morning briefs and execute background tasks even when a user's phone or computer is turned off, according to Analytics Insight, Computerworld and NDTV Gadgets 360.
On the India App Store, Anthropic's lower Claude Max tier is listed at Rs 12,900/month and the higher Claude Max tier is listed at Rs 24,900/month, according to Gadgets Now (The Times of India).
Alongside each consequential action, Claude Duet runs a separate automated check, extended from the Claude Code auto mode classifier, outside the working model to verify that the action matches the user's intent, preventing hidden instructions on a web page from affecting the outcome.
Users admitted to the Claude Duet research preview receive one full limit reset that restores both their five-hour session limit and their weekly usage limit, available until November 30, 2026, according to Anthropic.
Virtual Machine Execution, 6,000 Connectors And Shared Plan Limits
Unlike standard chatbots that wait for a prompt, Claude Duet carries over memory, skills and connected applications from a user's existing Claude account into a separate workspace and initiates messages when it spots items needing attention, with users able to set update topics and frequency, NDTV Gadgets 360 reported. Anthropic states that Claude Duet works with more than 6,000 connectors and plugins from the Claude Marketplace spanning communication, accounting, hiring, sales, document management and online retail, while supporting business purchases via Stripe's Link digital wallet and Shopify's Shop Pay checkout, with planned support for 1Password login credentials with user permission, NDTV Gadgets 360 reported.
Anthropic's official pricing page lists Claude Pro at $20/month when billed monthly, while on the India App Store Claude Pro is listed at Rs 1,999/month, according to Gadgets Now (The Times of India).
Because Claude Duet shares usage quotas with a subscriber's existing Claude Pro or Max plan, its periodic background checks and multi-step jobs, such as building a financial model or presentation deck, count toward those plan limits, NDTV Gadgets 360 and Analytics Insight reported. While the agent can read files, review emails, check calendars and draft reports autonomously, Anthropic requires human approval before consequential actions such as sending a message, making a payment, signing a document or deleting a file, and permanently bars trading securities or transferring money between accounts even with user approval, NDTV Gadgets 360 and Analytics Insight stated.
How Claude Duet Compares With Meta Muse And OpenAI Dots
Whereas Claude Duet focuses on office workflows and small-business tasks, Meta's Muse, powered by the Muse Spark model and accessible via the Muse app and WhatsApp in the US, targets personal errands such as travel planning, shopping, bookings and household schedules using a secure virtual machine and a separate Sentinel agent that checks outbound actions, Analytics Insight reported. OpenAI's Dots, powered by GPT-6 Astra and equipped with individual cloud computers, target long-running multi-step research, software testing and team coordination across more than 4,000 apps including ChatGPT, Slack and Microsoft Teams, using read-only research tools, custom approval rules and an Activity View log, while Anthropic notes that early-preview Claude Duet may still occasionally misjudge urgency as the company gathers user feedback, NDTV Gadgets 360 and Analytics Insight reported.