Meta's new AI agent, Muse, launched in early September, has rapidly become the top free app on Apple's App Store and Google Play Store in the US and Canada, surpassing ChatGPT. It achieved 2.8 million downloads within two weeks, with an average daily growth of 55% in its first 10 days. JPMorgan raised Meta's price target to $920 from $820, implying a 24% upside, due to Muse's potential to become a leading consumer AI application. The investment bank noted Muse's integration with over 2,000 applications, including major retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, Sephora, and Wayfair, and highlighted potential monetization through a take-rate or commission model, similar to Meta's advertising revenue.
Muse's emergence has sparked both excitement and concern across various sectors. While Meta's shares have soared nearly 13% this week, with Truist Securities estimating Muse could generate at least $28.5 billion in additional annual revenue by fiscal year 2030, other industries face potential disruption. Financial institutions, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab, Marsh, and Arthur J. Gallagher, saw their stocks drop by 3% to 5% due to fears that Muse could enable users to easily find lower-cost alternatives for financial products and insurance. Bank of America warned that agentic AI assistants like Muse pose a "multiyear evolutionary risk" to banks' business models, as they could manage and move money for users.
Conversely, some companies have partnered with Muse to their benefit. Shopify's US-listed shares jumped 11.4% after announcing it would use Muse to process checkouts, and PayPal saw marginal gains by allowing users to complete purchases through the AI agent. Stripe and Ticketmaster also forged similar deals. The increased demand for AI compute driven by apps like Muse has also benefited chip stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gaining 7% since Muse's launch, and Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices being among the top gainers. However, Amazon has blocked Muse, citing violations of its Conditions of Use, indicating resistance from some businesses unwilling to participate in Meta's arrangement for third-party purchasing agents.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Muse as a "personal superintelligence" that will be free for a large number of tokens, with future monetization coming from small fees on transactions. Alexandr Wang, who heads Meta's AI efforts, noted Muse's ability to access the entire Shopify product catalog and use payment solutions like Lync and Shop Pay. Meta has opened its platform to developers for building connectors, and has already received over 1,500 submissions, aiming to extend Muse's reach to small businesses and other services like Expedia and Instacart.
