Meta's Muse Shopping Agent Has Big Ambitions but Little Traction So Far

Meta's agentic AI tool Muse has been billed as a shopping powerhouse, but executives at dozens of companies say it has yet to make a meaningful mark on their bottom lines.

On recent earnings calls and in conversations with WIRED, leaders at roughly 50 businesses across travel, internet service, food, and self-storage said they see no immediate disruption from Muse or similar agents. DoorDash described orders coming from such agents as in the "hundreds." T-Mobile said it had seen "anything of significance" from agents, while Hilton called agent bookings "insignificant." Ally Financial characterized the activity as "quite low," and eBay termed it "very, very small."

Fears that users would deploy agents to cancel subscriptions and memberships haven't materialized either. Life Time Group reported "zero" agent-driven cancellations, and Public Storage and Hartford Insurance Group offered similar accounts. India's Eternal estimated agentic commerce at "close to zero."

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the US and Canada had activated Muse, with over 25 percent using it for shopping-more than any other task and above company expectations. Meta pointed to partnerships with 10 retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy, and Gap, though many have not yet reported data covering the period since Muse launched.

Despite the slow uptake, some companies are already adapting. Chipotle's chief digital officer Arlie Sisson said the chain found agents stumbling on loyalty discounts and after-hours orders, and is cleaning up its website code to help them. Costco and Extra Space Storage said chatbot-driven sales are surging as they optimize content for AI tools.

Zuckerberg said Meta plans to charge businesses for transactions facilitated by Muse, predicting the revenue could eventually surpass advertising. But security concerns persist: Bank of America warned customers about sharing login credentials with AI assistants. Amazon blocked Muse last month, then said it anticipates working with outside agents, while Insurify reversed its own block after building safeguards for accurate offers.