Agents
Block Launches Buzz: Decentralized AI Workspace
Matt Wolfehigh confidence
Why it matters
- →Provides a decentralized alternative to traditional workspaces like Slack.
- →Empowers users with full control over AI operations.
- →Supports a self-sovereign AI workforce, appealing to developers and startups.
Jack Dorsey's company, Block, has launched Buzz, a new decentralized and open-source platform designed for AI agents. Buzz functions like a Slack workspace but is tailored for AI, offering a core team of agents named Fizz, Honey, and Bumble, each with specific roles such as building, writing, and researching. Users can assign tasks to these agents, who can work in parallel and peer-review each other's work. Built on the open-source Nostr protocol, Buzz is model-agnostic and allows users full control over their AI operations.
Read originalThe story around this
Earlier coverage that leads up to this article, and what followed. Lines connect each piece to the closest one after it, converging here.
How we got here
- 1OpenSwarm AI Launches Open-Source Multi-Agent System
Lev Selector · May 8, 2026 · Background
- 2Meta Launches Muse Spark AI
Matt Wolfe · May 15, 2026 · Background
- 3OpenJarvis: Local AI Framework Now Available
Ollama Blog · May 28, 2026 · Background
- 4Anthropic Introduces Claude Tag for Slack
TechCrunch AI · June 23, 2026 · Background
- 5Claude Tag Introduces AI Coworkers in Slack
The AI Daily Brief · June 24, 2026 · Related
- 6Jack Dorsey Launches Buzz, a Slack Competitor
TechCrunch AI · July 21, 2026 · Same story
What happened next
- 7Slack introduces collaborative vibe-coding channels
The Verge AI · August 20, 2026 · Related
- 8Slack introduces collaborative coding feature
The Rundown AI · August 21, 2026 · Background
- 9GitHub Copilot Integrates with Slack in Public Preview
GitHub Changelog · August 21, 2026 · Background
- 10Claude Cowork Now Available in Chrome
Lev Selector · August 21, 2026 · Background
- 11Slack introduces AI-driven interactive reports in chats
The Verge AI · September 10, 2026 · Background
More in Agents
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Meta Muse expands to iPad with new connectors
Meta’s AI agent Muse hits the iPad just a month after its mobile debut, accelerating its push into personal automation. The update adds critical connectors for small businesses like Asana and QuickBooks, alongside retail partners including Best Buy and Walmart. This rapid expansion signals Meta’s intent to make Muse a central hub for both productivity and commerce. However, the agent still faces friction as websites frequently block these automated interactions. The move highlights the growing competition in the consumer AI agent space.
TechCrunch AI
© The Verge AIAgentsagents
Meta Muse AI Agent expands to iPad with new integrations
Meta’s agentic AI tool, Muse, finally lands on the iPad, leveraging larger screens and multitasking for more complex workflows. This update isn't just a port; it adds deep connectors for tools like Figma, GitHub, and QuickBooks, signaling a shift toward autonomous business operations. By allowing users to set high-level goals for marketing or product development, Meta is pushing agents from chatbots into active execution roles. The rapid rollout compared to Instagram’s iPad debut highlights the company's aggressive prioritization of AI infrastructure. Apple Silicon Macs now compile in KleidiAI by default, meaning every M-series machine gets ARM-tuned GEMM kernels for free, no flag-flipping required. With ROCm 7.2 added as a default build, AMD GPU users stop being second-class citizens for local inference — the gap with CUDA narrows visibly. There's no new model and no new quantization here — just llama.cpp quietly becoming the inference runtime for everyone who isn't on NVIDIA. That's the headline.
The Verge AI
© TechCrunch AIAgentsagents
AI agents face bot blocks as industry seeks open standard
The friction between autonomous AI agents and existing web infrastructure is becoming a critical bottleneck for consumer adoption. Major retailers like Amazon have actively blocked Meta’s Muse agent, while others like Walmart fail due to incompatible human verification challenges. This isn't just technical noise; it reveals that current anti-bot measures are fundamentally misaligned with the agent-first era of the web. In response, Meta and partners including Stripe and Genesys are drafting an open standard for agent-to-agent commerce communication. Until these protocols mature, users will face a fragmented landscape where their AI assistants are frequently rejected by the very services they aim to use.
TechCrunch AI