Meta Muse Hits No. 2 on the U.S. App Store as AI Agent Race Intensifies
Meta's Muse hits No. 2 on the U.S. App Store after 83,000 iOS downloads, but trails Threads, Meta AI and ChatGPT as the consumer agent race intensifies.
Summary
Meta’s U.S.-only AI agent Muse surpassed 83,000 iOS downloads after launching Tuesday, Sensor Tower estimates. By September 10, 2026, it had climbed from fourth on Wednesday to No. 2 on the U.S. App Store. That trails Meta’s Threads, with more than 4.3 million U.S. launch day downloads, and Meta AI, with 108,000. ChatGPT exceeded 500,000 U.S. installs within a week, averaging about 83,300 daily, a level Muse needed roughly twice as long to reach. Muse ranks No. 338 in Google Play’s Productivity category, with Android downloads unavailable; web and WhatsApp usage is excluded.
Meta is betting that agents acting for consumers will become a major AI market. Rivals include Google’s Gemini Spark, Anthropic’s Claude Cowork and Instinct, a text based agent valued at $2.5 billion with $350 million available. Instinct recently added user email addresses, communication between friends’ agents for coordinating plans, Stripe and 1Password integrations, and location sharing, although security concerns and its broad privacy policy remain liabilities.
Muse requires additional personal information and arrived days after Meta agreed to an $18 billion multistate settlement over social media’s consumer harms. Meta’s earlier data scandals and repeated U.S. Federal Trade Commission privacy penalties could complicate adoption as Muse competes with Instinct for mainstream users.
Positives
- More than 83,000 U.S. iOS downloads pushed Muse to No. 2 on the App Store by September 10, 2026.
- Muse climbed from fourth on Wednesday to second within a day, showing continued early momentum.
- Web and WhatsApp access broadens Muse’s reach beyond the iOS and Android activity measured by Sensor Tower.
- $350 million is funding Instinct’s rapid rollout of email, agent coordination, payments, password management and location features.
Risks & concerns
- Threads recorded over 4.3 million U.S. launch day downloads, dwarfing Muse’s first two days.
- Meta AI reached 108,000 U.S. debut downloads, while Muse required about twice as long to approach ChatGPT’s estimated daily launch pace.
- No. 338 in Google Play’s Productivity category signals much weaker Android traction, and download totals remain unavailable.
- An $18 billion multistate settlement landed days before Muse asked consumers to entrust Meta with more personal information.
- Instinct faces security concerns and criticism of an overly broad, permissive privacy policy.