Instinct and Meta's Muse add autonomous phone calling to AI agents for real-world task execution

According to TechCrunch, two competing agentic AI platforms released the ability for agents to make outbound phone calls to execute tasks like restaurant reservations and subscription cancellations without human intermediation.

Update (2026-09-23): According to Reuters and 404 Media, Meta is testing its personal AI agent Muse with human employees in call centers actually handling voice calls that are labeled as AI-generated to users. The testing raises transparency concerns about agent authenticity and human oversight in deployed systems. The arrangement blurs the boundary between AI-handled and human-handled interactions without explicit...