Meta's New AI Agent Muse: Useful Assistant or Data-Collection Machine?
Meta's new Muse AI agent app has been downloaded over 900,000 times in its first week, but hands-on testing suggests it pushes users to share personal data more than it actually completes tasks.
Meta has launched a new AI agent app called Muse, marketed as a personal assistant for handling everyday tasks such as bookings, shopping, and inbox management. According to Sensor Tower, the app was downloaded more than 900,000 times in its first week and is also available through WhatsApp.
How the agent works
Unlike a standard chatbot, Muse operates in the background using a "virtual machine" to browse the web on the user's behalf—running searches and navigating websites. During testing, a journalist found Muse capable of completing tasks accurately, such as ordering breakfast from a local bakery or finding cheap couches on Facebook Marketplace, including messaging sellers to arrange pickup.
Data collection concerns
However, the app's "ideas" tab repeatedly encouraged connecting more personal data—from bank accounts to passport and driver's license expiration dates, and even meal photos for calorie estimates. Muse users are automatically opted into having their interactions used for AI model training, though this can be disabled in settings. A senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center noted that this default setting suggests Meta hasn't learned from past mistakes regarding user trust.
Muse also stores details about user interactions and preferences in a "Memory" document, which can be edited or wiped via chat request, but there is currently no toggle to fully disable the memory feature. While Muse data isn't directly shared with advertisers, actions taken by the agent—like making a dinner reservation—can indirectly influence the ads users see on other Meta platforms.
A researcher at Hugging Face warned that such AI agents may weaken users' ability to independently assess the agent's actions, making people more passive over time. After several days of testing, the journalist deleted the app, concluding it focused more on collecting data than genuinely getting things done.
