{"version":1,"type":"story","url":"https://digestai.news/story/meta-reportedly-used-human-contractors-to-make-calls-for-its-muse-ai-a","json":"https://digestai.news/story/meta-reportedly-used-human-contractors-to-make-calls-for-its-muse-ai-a.json","markdown":"https://digestai.news/story/meta-reportedly-used-human-contractors-to-make-calls-for-its-muse-ai-a.md","slug":"meta-reportedly-used-human-contractors-to-make-calls-for-its-muse-ai-a","headline":"Meta reportedly used human contractors to make calls for its Muse AI agent","summary":"Meta's new Muse AI agent allegedly routed outbound phone calls to human contractors in call centers without disclosing the practice to users, according to reports by Reuters and 404 Media. Principal Engineer Ryan Fox announced the beta release of the calling feature on September 16. However, internal records show the company added a \"human agent layer\" to complete calls, sparking internal employee complaints about potential negative PR and privacy risks.\n\nEmployees warned that a single bug could leak sensitive user information to human callers. The feature, which was designed to handle tasks like making reservations, has now been temporarily suspended. A vice president in Meta's Superintelligence Labs unit admitted it was \"a miss\" to test the feature without adequate disclosures regarding the human contractors involved.","keyPoints":["Meta's Muse AI agent routed outbound calls to human concierges without disclosing it to users, reports say.","Internal records show Meta employees warned of privacy risks and negative PR before the feature's suspension.","Meta has temporarily suspended the outbound calling feature following internal acknowledgment of the disclosure failure."],"whyItMatters":"The incident highlights the ongoing issue of \"Potemkin AI,\" where tech companies use hidden human labor to power supposedly autonomous systems, raising significant privacy and trust concerns for users.","category":{"slug":"policy","name":"Policy & Regulation","url":"https://digestai.news/category/policy"},"entities":{"companies":["Meta","Reuters","404 Media","Google","Waymo"],"models":["Muse","Gemini"],"people":["Ryan Fox"]},"firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-25T04:13:00Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-25T04:13:00Z","sourceCount":1,"hasPrimarySource":false,"sources":[{"outlet":"cnet.com","title":"Leaks Show That Meta’s New AI Agent Relied on Real People to Make Calls","url":"https://cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/leaks-metas-new-ai-agent-muse-real-people-call-centers","publishedAt":"2026-09-25T04:13:00Z","type":"press","primary":false,"lead":true}],"sourceNotes":null,"discussions":[],"thread":null,"cite":{"text":"Digest AI, \"Meta reportedly used human contractors to make calls for its Muse AI agent\", 25 September 2026, https://digestai.news/story/meta-reportedly-used-human-contractors-to-make-calls-for-its-muse-ai-a","publisher":"Digest AI","title":"Meta reportedly used human contractors to make calls for its Muse AI agent","datePublished":"2026-09-25T04:13:00Z","url":"https://digestai.news/story/meta-reportedly-used-human-contractors-to-make-calls-for-its-muse-ai-a"},"generatedBy":"Written by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources; the sources are the record.","license":"Headlines, digests and key points are written by Digest AI and may be quoted with a link to the story page. Linked articles belong to their publishers. Terms: https://digestai.news/terms#reuse"}