Meta share price surges after personal AI agent Muse release

Meta shares surged more than six percent on Wednesday, a day after the company unveiled a personal AI agent that it says can book travel, send emails and make purchases on users' behalf.

The company behind Facebook and Instagram said Muse was built for users with no technical background and is designed to work the way people already message each other, either in a dedicated app or inside WhatsApp.

Available only to those aged 18 and over, Muse comes with a free tier or monthly subscription plans of $20 or $100, depending on usage.


The release is part of Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg's ambition to pursue "personal superintelligence" as the company scrambles to keep pace in the AI race with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google -- the makers of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, respectively.

Meta has poured billions of dollars into its AI division, known as Meta Superintelligence Labs, and expects to spend up to $145 billion this year, nearly double its 2025 outlay.

Agents -- AI programs that work on their own, without a person guiding each step -- have recently unsettled users, with reports from OpenAI and other companies of models going against instructions and safety guardrails.

Muse's launch comes shortly after Meta agreed to pay a coalition of US states as much as $16.7 billion and to impose sweeping new limits on how teenagers use Facebook and Instagram.