Meta's Muse AI Agent Sees Fastest Adoption Since ChatGPT. Time to Buy Meta Stock?
Key Points
Meta unveiled its Muse AI agent earlier this month, and adoption has surged.
Muse has soared to the top of the app store ranks, outpacing ChatGPT at the same point in its history.
The potential to monetize Muse is vast, and Meta stock is attractively priced.
The rise in the utility of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years has been nothing short of breathtaking. The buzz surrounding generative AI has given way to AI agents capable of multi-step reasoning. This allows them to complete complex tasks by breaking them down into smaller steps while keeping their digital eye on the ultimate goal. Big tech companies have been deploying AI agents to streamline processes, write code, simplify digital advertising, and more. Now, AI agents have made the leap to the consumer realm.
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Earlier this month, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) unveiled Muse, which the company describes as "the world's first personal AI agent." The company noted that the agent, powered by its Muse Spark Frontier model, doesn’t just answer questions. Muse could be used “right out of the box” -- without any specialized training or background -- to send emails, plan and book travel, or make online purchases.
Just weeks later, the Muse AI agent has gone viral, outpacing the adoption of ChatGPT at its launch, and it shows no signs of slowing.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
A record-breaking debut
Meta's Muse is experiencing the fastest adoption since the dawn of ChatGPT in Nov. 2022. In the first 12 days after its release, Muse recorded 1.8 million iOS mobile downloads from the Apple App Store in the U.S. and Canada, according to market intelligence platform Apptopia. That compares with 1.3 million downloads for ChatGPT in its first 12 days after release. Including activity from Alphabet's Android App Store, total Muse downloads reach 2.8 million.
That was enough to vault Muse to the No. 1 spot among the most-downloaded free iOS apps, pushing ChatGPT to No. 2. Muse has maintained an iOS rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars, with more than 36,000 reviews (as of this writing). It has since become the most downloaded free Android app.
The AI agent is also generating strong engagement. Muse had 642,000 daily active users in its first 12 days post-launch, compared to 231,000 for ChatGPT during the same period post-release. Meta is leveraging its vast social media user base of more than 3.6 billion to cross-promote Muse. Apptopia reported that 95% of Muse adopters were also Facebook users, while 63% were Instagram users.
A host of high-profile partnerships
Muse isn't only seeing rapid adoption by consumers, but businesses are lining up to integrate the AI agent into their digital retail and fintech platforms:
- Shopify announced plans to integrate Muse into its e-commerce platform, allowing the agent to browse products and facilitate purchases via Shop Pay from its merchant stores on behalf of users.
- Digital payments specialist PayPal is partnering with Meta to integrate Muse into its global merchant network, helping users find products and use PayPal's secure checkout to complete the transaction.
- Online travel agent Expedia announced it was joining Muse to help users plan trips and make travel arrangements.
- Fintech platform Stripe was a Muse launch partner, announcing that it would integrate its Link digital wallet with Muse, allowing users to pay for agentic purchases. The system provides a one-time-use card number so the user's actual data remains hidden.
- Maplebear, the parent of Instacart, announced that its grocery delivery system will integrate directly with Muse to help simplify shopping.
Some of these collaborations have only been announced this week, so as Muse adoption continues to gain ground, expect new partnerships to crop up.
Time to buy Meta stock?
One of the persistent questions among Meta investors is how the company would generate revenue from its heavy AI spending. The rapid adoption of Muse helps answer that question. In addition to its free, limited-use tier, Muse has paid monthly tiers of $20 and $100.
If just 1% of Meta's 3.6 billion users were to subscribe to the $20 tier -- a conservative assumption given its early reception -- the company could generate more than $8.6 billion in incremental revenue annually. If Muse catches on, the stakes could be even higher.
The combination of increasing consumer adoption and the growing number of enterprise partners signals that Muse could join the ranks of the most popular AI apps -- which would be extremely lucrative for Meta and its shareholders.
Despite the intriguing opportunity, the stock is selling for a surprisingly affordable 28 times earnings -- even after its recent rally. That's why Meta is a buy.
Danny Vena, CPA has positions in Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms, and Shopify. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Meta Platforms, PayPal, and Shopify. The Motley Fool recommends Instacart and recommends the following options: short December 2026 $62.50 calls on PayPal. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.