Zuckerberg keeps Muse free and plans to profit from a cut of the transactions it completes

Mark Zuckerberg pledged to keep Meta’s Muse AI agent free for most users at the company’s Connect event in Menlo Park on Wednesday.

Meta plans to monetize later by taking a small fee from the purchases, bookings and other transactions Muse completes for them.

Meta has added $200 billion in value since Muse launched

“We’re standing behind this by making Muse free for a huge number of tokens, with the expectation that over time we will profit by taking a small fee from transactions,” Zuckerberg said.

He called it a novel business model and claimed that the agent will make money for its users.

Meta’s chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said Muse has already helped users to save on their insurance costs and recoup unclaimed refunds. It also negotiated a cable bill down by $85 a month, Wang said.

Muse is not completely free. Launched on September 8, it offers a free basic tier along with $20 and $100 monthly plans for heavier use, according to earlier Cryptopolitan reporting.

Zuckerberg said at Connect that the free lane stays open. The money from transactions is supposed to pay for it.

Cryptopolitan reports that Meta’s market value has grown by more than $200 billion since Muse’s release. That came after the agent got 2.8 million downloads in its first 12 days.

One Wall Street estimate puts Muse revenue at about $10.8 billion a year if it reaches a billion users by the end of 2027, with at least 3% paying, Cryptopolitan reported.

Meta shares closed 1.02% higher at $744.10 on Wednesday.

Developers filed more than 1,500 connector applications in under a week

Wang used the keynote to introduce a long list of new connectors. Walmart, Best Buy, Gap, Sephora, Wayfair, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta Beauty, and Fanatics are joining the agent.

Box, GitHub, Granola, and Notion cover work. Instacart covers groceries, and Expedia is coming soon for travel.

Muse accesses the full product catalog on Shopify and pays via Stripe’s Link and Shop Pay. PayPal support is available too.

Meta recently opened its connector platform to external developers. Wang said more than 1,500 applications arrived in under a week.

“I think this could be a generational opportunity to start building for a new platform as it takes off,” Wang said.

In the coming months, Meta will add Muse to its AI glasses, activated by saying the agent’s name. It can help steer a workout, log a meal or purchase a product the wearer is looking at.

Muse is now available for computer use on Mac. The agent can drive any app on the machine as the user walks away.

Muse is also getting its own email address to act and join threads on a user’s behalf. Meta Superintelligence Labs has announced Muse Realtime Avatar, giving a face, body and voice to the faceless agent for live video chats.

The avatar is called Jolly, said Zuckerberg.