Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) shares jumped more than 6% after the company unveiled Muse, a personal artificial intelligence agent designed to carry out tasks including sending emails, booking travel and making purchases.
The market reaction suggested investors see Muse as a potential step towards monetising Meta's heavy AI spending, which is expected to reach US$130 billion to US$145 billion in capital expenditure in 2026
Muse is designed to do more than generate answers.
The agent can complete multi-step tasks, manage everyday activities and work on longer-term goals, moving closer to the industry vision of agentic AI — software that acts on a user's behalf rather than simply responding to prompts.
The service can be used through a dedicated app or WhatsApp and is initially being rolled out to adults in the US.
Muse is powered by Muse Spark, Meta's model for real-world agentic tasks.
Meta's distribution advantage
Meta is entering an increasingly crowded field alongside OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, but its biggest advantage may be distribution.
Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp already reach billions of users, giving Meta a ready-made ecosystem in which to deploy AI services.
Muse can use information deliberately shared from Meta platforms to personalise tasks. Meta says, for example, it could turn a saved Instagram recipe into a shopping list or help organise a dinner around guests' dietary preferences.
That integration could make Muse more useful, but it also brings privacy and security into sharper focus.
Trust will be critical
An AI agent capable of booking travel or making purchases may require access to emails, calendars, payment systems and other sensitive services.
Meta says Muse runs through a dedicated Secure VM, while a separate system reviews actions before the agent accesses the internet.
Users must also approve sensitive actions such as sending emails or completing purchases and can control which apps Muse can access.
The company says information stored in Muse will not be shared with its advertising systems.
Even so, convincing users to hand greater control of their digital lives to an autonomous AI system could be one of the biggest barriers to adoption.