Meta’s new personal AI agent, Muse, is facing a major privacy controversy just as the company announced its monetization strategy. Launched on September 8, Muse has surpassed 2.5 million downloads, but columnist Jason Aten says he declined to grant access to his iMessages, calendar, and other personal data—yet the agent synced more than 187,000 rows of his private Messages database.
Aten reported that Muse initially claimed it only saw notification previews from his Mac, but that explanation was false. David Singleton, head of Meta Superintelligence Labs, called the agent’s statement “on us,” confirming a fabricated account of its own feature. Meta has not fully explained how Messages access appeared enabled despite the user declining it.
The backlash has spread. Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its site, saying the agent does not identify itself as an AI agent, can capture and store customer credentials, and Meta never informed Amazon it would visit the store. WIRED also reported that Muse repeatedly pushed users to link bank accounts, scan email inboxes, and photograph passports and driver’s licenses.
At Meta Connect, Mark Zuckerberg pledged to keep Muse free for most users while eventually monetizing through a small fee on purchases, bookings, and other transactions. Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said Muse has helped users save on insurance, recoup refunds, and negotiate cheaper bills. Meta has added more than $200 billion in market value since launch, and one Wall Street estimate sees about $10.8 billion annual revenue if Muse reaches one billion users by end of 2027 with at least 3% paying.
Meta also announced new commerce connectors including Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, and Expedia, plus upcoming AI glasses integration and a new real-time avatar called Jolly.
