India, Oct. 14 -- In November 1996, Japanese toymaker Bandai put a pet inside a plastic egg. The Tamagotchi, whose name blends tamago, Japanese for egg, with watch, had a tiny screen and three buttons to feed the creature, play with it and switch off its lights. Neglect it for too long, and it died. The toy went on to sell about 40 Mn units.

Thirty years later, Meta has its own take on the idea.

At its Connect event last month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off the Muse Charm, a keychain-sized device with a small screen and an animated avatar representing Meta's AI agent Muse. Tap the device, and you can talk to it and get it to do tasks for you.

But unlike the Tamagotchi, which demanded its owner's constant attention, Muse is designed to...