Meta Muse, the AI agent Meta launched in the US on Sept. 8, can send email, book travel and buy things for you, and it keeps working after you close the app. If you downloaded it, six settings decide how much Muse can see, say and spend in your name.
The short version
Muse is free to download, rated 18+, and has been downloaded more than 10 million times in the US, according to app research firm Sensor Tower. Before you link your accounts, check what it can read, what it can send and what it can buy.
- Give Muse read-only access to your email unless you want it sending messages for you.
- Meta says Muse asks before it sends an email or makes a purchase, and it pays with a one-time card number through Link by Stripe.
- You can opt out of having your chats used to train Meta’s AI, and tell Muse to forget things.
- The App Store listing says Muse may use your location even when the app is closed, which you can switch off in your phone’s settings.
- The downside: Meta’s own listing warns that Muse “may be inaccurate or take unexpected actions.”
What is Meta Muse?
Muse is what Meta calls a personal AI agent. A chatbot answers questions. An agent goes and does the task. In its launch announcement, Meta says Muse can send emails, book travel, open a browser, fill out forms and negotiate for you. You can talk to it in the Muse app or in WhatsApp.
It has caught on fast. According to app research firm Sensor Tower, Muse passed 10.2 million US downloads in its first 40 days, and 2.5 million people used it on Oct. 16 alone.
What changes for you: Muse can keep acting on your accounts after you put your phone down, so the permissions you grant on day one keep working while you sleep.
Meta Muse settings to check first
- Pick read-only for email. Meta says you choose which apps Muse connects to and how much access it gets. For email, you can let it read only, or read and send. Start with read only.
- Keep purchase approvals on, and read them. Meta says Muse checks with you before sensitive actions such as sending an email or making a purchase. Read the item, the price and the store before you tap yes.
- Connect only what you need. The App Store listing says you can link your email, calendar, Instagram, Facebook, health and fitness data, and finances. If you only want help with dinner bookings, it does not need your bank or your health data.
- Opt out of AI training. Meta says you can stop your Muse chats being used to train its AI models.
- Use the activity log and “forget”. Muse keeps a full log of what it has done and plans to do. Check it weekly. You can tell Muse to forget specific things and disconnect any app at any time.
- Limit location. The App Store listing says Muse may use your location even when the app is closed. On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services, tap Muse and choose While Using the App. On Android, open the app’s permissions in Settings and choose to allow location only while using the app.
Banks are already wary of software that logs in for you. Two big US banks have started blocking AI agents that use your password, so linking your finances to any agent is worth a second thought.
How Meta says it protects your card and data
When Muse buys something, Meta says it uses Link by Stripe to create a one-time card number, so the store never sees your real card. Meta says Muse cannot see your passwords or payment methods, and that it does not share your conversations with Meta’s ad systems.
Meta also says a second program, which it calls Sentinel, has to approve anything Muse sends to the internet and asks you when needed. These are Meta’s own claims, and no outside security review has been published yet.
Is Meta Muse free?
Yes, to start. The App Store listing from Meta Platforms, Inc. lists Muse as free with in-app purchases, and Meta says it is “free for most of what people need,” with paid plans for heavier use. Meta did not list plan prices in its announcement, so check the price inside the app before you subscribe. You must be 18 or older, and on iPhone it needs iOS 18 or later.
Muse is not the only agent that wants to shop for you. Walmart now lets AI assistants buy for you up to a limit you set.
The downside
The downside: Muse can get things wrong. Its own App Store listing says Muse “may be inaccurate or take unexpected actions,” and tells you to check in and step in when needed. An agent that books the wrong date or buys the wrong size still costs you time to fix, even with purchase protection.
Skip if: you share your phone with children, or you rarely check your email and card alerts. An agent works best for people who will actually read its activity log.
Download the real app
Look-alike apps show up fast when something goes viral. Download Muse only from the App Store or Google Play listing published by Meta Platforms, Inc., or open it from WhatsApp. If an ad or a message asks you to pay to “unlock” Muse, skip it. Our guide to spotting AI scams shows the warning signs.
