Investor interest in Meta is rising as its new AI agent, Muse, gains early traction and raises expectations that it could become a new source of revenue for the company.
Launched on September 8, Muse is designed to handle tasks such as sending emails, booking travel and completing transactions, including selling a car for users. The basic version is free, while subscriptions cost $20 or $100 per month for heavier use.
Meta shares have climbed more than 20% since the launch, outperforming the “Magnificent 7” group of US technology companies. The rally has added more than $200 billion to Meta’s market value, taking its shares to their highest level in more than 7 months as of the previous close. Shares rose 0.5% on Tuesday after gaining more than 11% in the previous session.
“While it is still early, we believe that Muse has the potential to become the most widely used consumer AI application since ChatGPT,” J.P.Morgan analysts said, pointing to its early adoption, Meta’s large distribution network and free tier.
Muse is available on iOS and Android in the US and Canada. It recorded 2.8 million downloads during its first 12 days, according to Apptopia. Over the same period, ChatGPT recorded 1.3 million downloads, compared with 1.8 million for Muse on similar measures.
Early reviews suggest “functionality is resonating with users, particularly agent’s ability to execute multi-step tasks and workflows with limited user intervention,” according to BofA Global Research analysts.
Muse also helped drive a technology rally on Monday, pushing Meta shares up more than 11% and lifting chipmakers such as AMD and Intel. AMD crossed a $1 trillion valuation for the first time.
“The market has interpreted Muse as a boon for the already significantly bottlenecked CPU market,” said Michael O’Rourke of JonesTrading.
Jefferies estimated that 1 billion Muse users by the end of 2027, with at least 3% paying for the service, could generate $10.8 billion in annualised revenue. It raised Meta’s price target to $875.
UBS said Muse provides “early evidence that consumer AI agents could achieve broad adoption, offering new AI monetization opportunities beyond enterprise application.”
However, Amazon said Muse was not authorised to access its store and asked Meta to remove the retailer. Amazon also said Muse appears to capture and store customer credentials, scrape account data and does not identify itself when accessing customer accounts.
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