Meta's Muse AI Agent Tops Apple App Store as Retail AI Gains Traction

Meta's Muse personal AI agent has risen to the top of Apple's App Store, overtaking OpenAI's ChatGPT in recent download rankings. The app, launched two weeks ago, has recorded more than 2.5 million downloads, according to data from Sensor Tower, while ChatGPT logged 3.1 million downloads in the same period and Anthropic's Claude recorded about 200,000.

Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData Retail, said the popularity of Muse reflects an "acceleration of agentic shopping" as consumers look to delegate tasks such as price comparison and product tracking to AI tools. He added that the development is "an important part of the journey for AI and consumers," though he does not view it as a definitive tipping point.

IBM research indicates that 41 % of shoppers use AI assistants for product research and 31 % for deal searches. A Coresight survey of more than 1,000 consumers found that 30 % would rely on AI to compare holiday-season prices and to locate promotional codes.

Unlike standard chatbots, Muse is designed to perform actions on users' behalf, including booking flights, managing inboxes and monitoring price drops. John Mercer, head of global research at Coresight, described the service as "a natural evolution from search" and suggested that sustained momentum could allow Muse to surpass competitors like Claude.

Amazon has reportedly blocked Muse from accessing its e-commerce platform, citing security and user-experience concerns. Saunders noted that occasional AI mishaps have left some shoppers hesitant to grant purchasing authority to autonomous agents.