Meta's Muse Wins Early Users but Amazon Blocks Its Shopping Agent

Meta's stock has jumped more than 20% in the two weeks since Muse was introduced, and the app has shot to the top of Apple's App Store, eclipsing ChatGPT, according to CNBC. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to take the stage at Meta Connect, the company's annual developer conference, late Wednesday afternoon.

Meta is touting Muse's ability to book appointments and travel, fill out electronic forms for users, monitor home security cameras and shop on a user's behalf. It can search for a specific product across various sites and marketplaces and link to Shopify or Stripe for payment.

Amazon has said that is a no-go. The retailer blocked Muse from purchasing products on its e-commerce app, claiming the tool would violate its terms of service. In a statement, Amazon said third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether to participate. Meta declined to comment, CNBC reported.

Amazon has already moved against other AI agents. It sued Perplexity in November, alleging the startup took steps to conceal its AI agents so they could keep scraping the retailer's website without approval. Amazon has also blocked agentic tools from OpenAI and Google.

Matthew Hassett, CEO of smart alarm clock company Loftie and AI-focused ecommerce startup Deliberate, told CNBC that Amazon's whole model is fiercely guarding the customer relationship. He described 'respect service provider decisions' as the polite version of 'not on our shelf.'

Experts say Meta has a long way to go to turn early Muse momentum into a durable product. Joseph Turow, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on digital media and privacy, told CNBC that people are going to be very wary. Some will dip their toes in, he said, while others will accept it for companies they trust. Turow said there will be early adopters, then others will be seduced into using such personal agents after seeing they can save money by finding the best discounts.

The push comes at a fraught moment for AI. Anthropic and OpenAI are calling for a slowdown in model development as fears intensify that advanced AI is spinning out of human control and could threaten humanity or at least amplify cybersecurity attacks. Last month, Meta agreed to pay up to $17 billion to settle a lawsuit brought by a host of states alleging the company misrepresented the extent of child mental health harms caused by apps such as Facebook and Instagram. OpenAI and Google have been sued by plaintiffs alleging their technology caused harm, including suicides.

The prospect that Muse could take over powerful functions beyond commerce has also moved markets. Shares of financial services companies including Charles Schwab and LPL Financial Holdings tumbled on Tuesday, while travel sites Booking Holdings and Expedia plummeted on Wednesday, according to CNBC.

Emarketer analyst Max Willens told CNBC that as more consumers use AI agents like Muse, Amazon will get more protective of its role in the consumer journey. For many years, Amazon was the place most U.S. consumers went first if they wanted to buy something online, Willens said. Today, those consumers are increasingly starting shopper journeys with AI assistants.

For Meta, the early Muse momentum has reignited optimism on Wall Street. The stock had been underperforming most of its megacap peers and the broader tech sector this year, but after the post-Muse rally, shares are up 13% in 2026, just below the Nasdaq's 16% gain. Analysts at Cantor who recommend buying Meta shares published a report Tuesday headlined 'Meta is racing while AI is pacing.' They wrote that the business model is not yet clear for a company that generates almost all revenue from digital ads, but the opportunity is apparent. They said they believe Muse's unit economics are being subsidized in the early days, though Meta has several paths to a profitable freemium model.