Meta has launched Muse, an AI personal agent that quickly became the number one app on Apple's App Store following the company's dramatic AI restructuring. The launch comes after Mark Zuckerberg's frustration with Meta's failed Llama 4 model prompted him to overhaul the AI division, hire top talent including Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, and invest heavily in development. The product allows users to delegate tasks like booking flights and ordering groceries, and Zuckerberg has positioned it as a tool to improve personal connections rather than consume more time online.

The app achieved 2.5 million downloads and boosted Meta's stock price, but its success masks significant privacy concerns. Muse becomes more useful when users grant it access to personal data including text messages, emails and passwords, creating vulnerability to data leaks or accidental deletions. Whilst Meta claims robust security measures—including cloud-based operations, secure password storage and user permission controls—critics remain sceptical, and Amazon has already blocked Muse from shopping on its platform, citing insufficient notice of the app's capabilities.