Meta has launched a new AI personal agent app and is already asking some users to pay for it, as the company seeks to turn its AI investment into a new business line.
Developed under the internal code name Hatch, the app is powered by Meta’s Muse Spark family of foundation models. It can handle everyday tasks including booking appointments, completing online forms and monitoring home security camera feeds.
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Meta Targets A Simple User Experience
Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang said Muse is designed to keep the user experience simple while handling complex tasks in the background.
“Behind the scenes, Muse might be doing very advanced coding workflows, or building sophisticated integrations, or doing quite a lot of heavy lifting while keeping that very sort of simple for the user,” Wang told CNBC.
Muse will offer a free tier and monthly plans costing $20 and $100, depending on usage. The pricing reflects Meta’s effort to build recurring AI revenue alongside advertising.
Zuckerberg Bets On Personal AI Agents
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has identified personal AI agents as a potential next stage of artificial intelligence and a source of future products and revenue. That strategy is driving continued spending on data centers and AI infrastructure as Meta bets that assistants capable of managing emails, finding deals and handling routine tasks will become mainstream.
Launch Comes Amid Legal And Industry Scrutiny
Muse arrives as Meta faces continued legal scrutiny. The company recently agreed to pay nearly $17 billion in a settlement with a coalition of state attorneys general over allegations involving harm on Facebook and Instagram, while additional lawsuits from personal injury plaintiffs and school districts remain pending.
Across the AI industry, regulators and security experts are also examining cybersecurity risks associated with autonomous agents and their underlying models. Data center expansion and questions over AI profitability are adding further pressure on major technology companies.
Meta Seeks A Payoff From AI Spending
Wall Street is pressing Meta to show that its AI investments can produce durable returns as the company remains heavily dependent on advertising while expanding into subscriptions and commerce.
Muse joins Meta’s broader AI portfolio, including the Muse Code developer agent and subscription offerings tested in recent months. Together, they point to a strategy of building a commercial AI services business rather than treating AI products as standalone experiments.
Security, Privacy And Commerce
Meta says Muse operates in an isolated environment and does not access users’ actual passwords or payment details. The agent asks for approval before sensitive actions, while third-party researchers can test the product through a bug-bounty program.
Users can opt out of having their Muse interactions used to train Meta’s models. For those who remain opted in, Meta says it will remove critical personally identifying information before using the data, according to David Singleton, Meta’s vice president of engineering.
Commerce could provide another revenue source. Wang said Meta is considering taking a share of shopping transactions completed through the agent, although no final business model has been decided.
Muse Expands Across Meta’s Ecosystem
US consumers will be able to access Muse on iOS, Android and a standalone website, with plans to bring it to Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
The service will compete with personal-agent products from OpenAI, Google and newer startups. Wang acknowledged that the market remains at an early stage, saying, “It’s pretty early in this new era of personal agents.”
