Meta’s Muse Tops 10 Million Users as AI Shopping Surpasses $200
Meta says Muse topped 10 million users, with some shopping baskets above $200, 25% daily use, and plans to cut compute costs over tenfold in the next year.
Summary
Meta said on its October 21, 2026 third-quarter earnings call that Muse exceeded 10 million users, confirming Sensor Tower estimates from earlier that week. Mark Zuckerberg said about 25% of people who set up the AI app now use it daily. Among engaged users shopping through the agent, more than a quarter averaged purchases above $200. Plaid, whose connector links Muse to users’ bank accounts for agentic shopping, told Meta it had not seen comparable connector activity on another service.
Email and calendar productivity connections are also popular. Zuckerberg said this demonstrates trust in Muse Secure VM, which protects data and privacy; the forthcoming Muse Confidential VM will prevent even Meta from viewing user content. Declaring product-market fit, Meta will scale Muse, grow revenue and optimize compute. It expects eventual Muse revenue per user to exceed the several hundred dollars generated annually by Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger users. Most access will remain free, while Meta takes a commerce percentage and charges power users for advanced models or additional tokens.
Meta is building capacity for more than 1 billion people over the next few years. Muse remains compute-intensive, but Meta targets a cost-efficiency improvement above 10 times in the next year and profitability once revenue scales. Muse will anchor Meta’s smart-glasses strategy as Reality Labs, covering smart glasses, VR and the metaverse, narrows projected losses from $19.1 billion in 2025 to $15 billion in 2026. Zuckerberg also previewed a Muse network where users’ agents collaborate with friends’ and relatives’ agents and transact directly with businesses’ agents.
Positives
- More than 10 million users have adopted Muse, confirming Sensor Tower’s earlier estimate.
- About 25% of people who set up Muse now use the AI app daily, improving retention.
- More than a quarter of engaged Muse shoppers averaged purchases above $200.
- Meta targets a greater than 10-fold compute-efficiency improvement within the next year.
- Reality Labs losses are projected to improve from $19.1 billion in 2025 to $15 billion in 2026.
Risks & concerns
- Muse remains highly compute-intensive before Meta achieves its planned efficiency gains.
- Reality Labs is still expected to lose $15 billion in 2026 despite improving results.
- Muse profitability depends on commerce, paid power-user features and revenue reaching sufficient scale.
- Muse Confidential VM remains forthcoming, with no launch date provided for blocking Meta’s access to user content.