Meta's new AI agent, Muse, topped the App Store charts and helped drive an 11% jump in the stock this week. The company opened Muse to outside developers through a new connector platform, drawing support from Shopify while Amazon blocked the app from parts of its shopping site.
Meta's stock surged 11% on Monday, moving within striking distance of a record it hit last summer. The rally followed the rapid rise of Muse, Meta's new personal AI agent, which jumped to the top of the App Store last week and remained the most downloaded free app on Monday, beating ChatGPT.
Investors appear to be betting the company has found a new way to sit between consumers and the businesses trying to reach them. Meta has spent tens of billions of dollars pursuing that same ambition through virtual reality and, more recently, smart glasses, without building the kind of platform Zuckerberg has chased for years.
Developers get access
Muse's swift climb up the app charts gave Meta early consumer momentum, and last week the company opened Muse to outside developers through a new connector platform that lets businesses plug their services directly into the AI agent. A travel service can book flights, a calendar app can manage appointments, and an email service can send messages through the connectors.
Developers submit their own connectors to Meta's agent platform for review. According to Business Insider, Meta wrote on the Muse developer website: "We'll review your connector for functional, security, and legal requirements".
On Monday, Shopify announced support for shopping on Muse through its Shop Pay service, sparking a jump in Shopify's own stock, while Stripe is providing the payment technology that lets Muse complete purchases across much of the web.
Amazon resists, rivals circle
Not every business is on board. Amazon has already blocked Muse from parts of its shopping site, signaling that some companies may resist handing customer relationships to another tech giant. Shopify's embrace stands in contrast, showing the potential risk companies face if they decline to engage with a potential new platform.
Muse also faces competitors chasing the same position at the top of the funnel, as OpenAI, SpaceX, and others race to build AI agents that become consumers' default assistants. Whether Meta secures that spot remains far from certain, but Muse may represent Zuckerberg's clearest platform opportunity yet.
Source: Business Insider
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