Mark Zuckerberg owes nine lives to network effect

Meta Platforms AI assistant Muse is the most downloaded app in the US Apple store, according to Sensor Tower on September 22. The agent, which handles tasks such as sending emails and booking travel, has over 2.5 million downloads since its launch on September 8.

Shares of Meta closed up 11% on September 21.

NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Never underestimate consumers’ desire to escape mundane tasks. Meta Platforms Meta unveiled its AI personal assistant called Muse earlier this month and it has been a hit, outpacing rivals ChatGPT and Claude. Despite boss Mark Zuckerberg’s many washouts, billions of locked-in users are his moat that permits experimentation.

Muse can do all sorts of unpleasant chores like sending emails, booking travel, fighting to lower a bill, or making a purchase. On Friday it climbed to the top of Apple’s US app store, where it currently sits with more than 2.5 million downloads, according to Sensor Tower.