Less than two weeks after Meta agreed to a massive $18 billion multistate settlement in a lawsuit over social media’s consumer harms, the company announced its biggest bet on consumer AI to date — and one that requires significantly more trust than social media ever did. On Tuesday, the company introduced Muse, its new personal AI agent that helps consumers with everyday tasks and projects for users in the U.S. To use Muse, consumers will have to trust Meta with more of their personal information than ever before.
The AI agent works by connecting to the user’s apps and services that are a part of everyday workflows, like email, calendars, payments, and other things the individual may regularly use, like apps for health and fitness, the smart home, dining, shopping, music and events, and more. The idea is a sizable bet on what comes after the ChatGPT era, where AI chatbots answered questions, served as sounding boards, or even became digital companions. Instead, Muse is focusing on AI that can actually do things for you.
The company says the agent can do things like sending emails, booking travel, lowering bills, filling out forms, creating plans, turning recipe reels into grocery lists, sending party invitations, and making purchases, leveraging Link by Stripe for checkout. The latter offers purchase protections, which could potentially ease consumers’ fears of letting an AI check out on their behalf. (Shopify’s Shop Pay and 1Password integrations are also coming soon.) Muse’s users can decide which apps and services they want to connect, doing so one at a time, to make the opt-in nature of using Muse more transparent. The agent is powered by Meta’s AI model, Muse Spark, and ships with built-in connectors (pictured below) for several services, with plans to add more over time.
If a service the user wants isn’t available but offers a public API, Muse can set up a connection using credentials the user provides. When no API is available, Muse can access the service via the browser instead. Muse will initially be available via the web at muse.ai, through apps on iOS and Android, and through chats in WhatsApp.
It will soon also make its way to Meta’s AI glasses, the company says. It will be free to use, with subscription plans kicking in as usage increases, which is why Muse requires a payment card to get started. Two paid plans will be available at launch: Power at $20/month and Maximum at $100/month.
Both of these subscriptions offer more Muse usage for handing off everyday tasks, though Meta believes most people will remain on the free tier. (The company says the app includes a usage meter that shows users what percentage of their usage they have left, and it will warn users before usage requires payment.) Like other AI agents, Muse will continue to work even after the user leaves the app. It will also improve over time by learning from the user’s conversations what’s important to them to make suggestions unprompted, Meta noted. The concept is not unique to Meta.
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