I want to punt Meta's Muse AI mascot back into the cursed void from whence it came

I am not fond of Meta's new mascot for Muse AI assistant. The company presented the cute creature and the Tamagotchi-like Muse Charm gadget, along with a VR headset that isn't truly a VR headset, during its recent Meta Connect event. The aim behind Muse is to provide an AI companion that you can converse with in real time and reach out at various points throughout your daily activities.

The default avatar for users, named Jolly, carries a customizable character and personality. CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that Jolly is the face of the entire Muse initiative. Although I find it offensive, the reason behind this strong reaction goes beyond mere social courtesy. Jolly's appearance is particularly unsettling, resembling a Doctor Who creature and even evoking memories of the Adipose from the popular TV show.

This design, with its rounded edges, fur, and expressionless face, is mass-market oriented, causing my skin to crawl. Wired magazine draws a comparison to Labubu, questioning why Muse appears more like a children's toy. At the Connect 2026 conference, Zuck even dressed Jolly up as a doll, complete with a toga. Andrew Tindall, System 1's chief growth officer, admits that Meta is capitalizing on our fondness for cute, infant-like features to make novel technology more appealing.

Avery Akkineni, VaynerX CMO, agrees that this approach humanizes the product and makes it more accessible to the general audience. Meta may have surplus AI data center capacity and is under pressure to demonstrate a return on this investment, which explains its strategy to target a wider audience with Muse. Additionally, humanizing AI and machine learning technology by giving it a cute face is a common tactic.

However, this particular mascot provokes a feeling that goes beyond polite discourse - it represents something I want to push far away from myself.