Meta's new AI agent Muse has become an early hit, ranking No. 1 on Apple's US App Store since Friday and lifting the company's stock 11% Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported. Yet its long-term dominance is far from settled.
Amazon this week blocked Muse from shopping on its site, and rivals are expected to launch competing tools soon. Truist Securities estimates Muse could add $28.5 billion in revenue by 2030.
"I don't know whether it's sustainable because if we learn anything from this space, give Google and OpenAI a couple weeks and they'll duplicate whatever is out there," said Truist analyst Youssef Squali. "At least, as of now, I think the narrative around Meta has been changing."
Privacy remains a hurdle. Oppenheimer & Co. found just 8% of consumers would trust Meta with passwords, versus 30% for Google, even as Muse passed 2.5 million downloads since its Sept. 8 debut, according to SensorTower.
Meta says each agent runs on a dedicated, secure machine. AI chief Alexandr Wang said before launch that leaks or deleted data worried the firm more than rogue behavior.
"If tomorrow we come in and there's some kind of major hack of some of these agents having taken someone's credentials or somebody's credit card information and went berserk, then I think it'll be negative for the entire space," said Squali, the Truist analyst.
Amazon said it authorized no such access to its platform. "We think it's fairly straightforward that third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate," an Amazon spokesperson said.
"Almost all of the internet marketplaces either have a very large advertising business or plan to build one over time," said Josh Beck, a tech analyst at Raymond James. Beck added that the sites need to believe working with AI agents will bring enough new users to their platforms to boost their revenues and not become "net negative."
