Meta says more than a quarter of Muse users use its AI assistant to shop, with the average purchase above $200. Here is what that means for how you buy.
More than a quarter of people using Meta's AI assistant Muse are using it to shop, Mark Zuckerberg said on Meta's third-quarter earnings call. The average purchase is above $200. Meta says more than 10 million people have set up Muse in the roughly six weeks since it launched.
Muse is an AI agent. That means a helper that does tasks for you instead of only answering questions. Meta launched it as something that could help with almost anything. Shopping turned out to be what people want most.
The figures suggest people are not just asking Muse for product ideas. They are letting it buy. Zuckerberg said Plaid had seen more activity through its Muse connector than on any other service. Stripe had to raise credit limits during the first week because transaction volumes beat expectations.
Meta has built Muse to find a product, compare options, work through checkout and ask for approval before it spends your money.
Zuckerberg said Muse should stay free for most users. Meta expects to make money by charging businesses fees on sales the agent helps complete. Subscriptions for heavier users and business services would add more revenue. Meta also has a head start, since Instagram and Facebook already shape what people discover, and WhatsApp connects shoppers with businesses.
Shopping suits an agent because it is full of tedious chores: comparing prices, checking availability, searching across stores and filling out forms. If shoppers stop visiting retailers themselves, the storefront matters less. The agent becomes the way customers deal with a business.
Before letting any assistant buy for you, check what it is allowed to spend. Meta says Muse asks for approval before spending. What limits users can set was not detailed. The usage numbers come from Meta and Zuckerberg, not from an outside check.
If you let an AI assistant shop for you, check what it can spend and confirm it asks for your approval first.
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