Meta's Muse AI Agent Sparks a New Battle Over Internet Access and Online Services

Meta wants its new Muse AI agent to be the gateway to users’ digital lives, but that all depends on whether popular apps and services are willing to give it the keys. Unlike previous iterations of AI that simply answered questions, organized emails, and created images, agents like Muse can take multistep actions on the internet. They can compare prices, shop, book reservations, and fill out forms, provided the companies that sell things and take reservations allow them access.

That change may spark a new battle over the future of internet services. Amazon recently blocked Muse’s AI agent from accessing its store, and some experts say the move could foreshadow a dilemma for online businesses. If more people use AI agents for daily tasks, businesses may need to make a critical choice: partner with companies like Meta and risk their own platforms possibly becoming irrelevant, or potentially miss out on reaching billions of customers through what may be the future of how people get things done. Shares of Airbnb, Expedia, and TripAdvisor fell around 5% last week after Meta announced new updates for its Muse agent.

The idea of AI agents isn’t new; OpenAI, Google, Apple, and Amazon, along with Meta, have been working towards this future for years and have gradually rolled out new agent-like features. However, Muse caught on almost immediately, shooting to the top of the free app chart on Apple’s App Store 10 days after its September 8 debut, largely driven by Meta's pervasive internet presence across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, alongside a relatively easy interface.

Compared to other tech giants, Meta has done a better job at showing Muse’s capabilities to consumers, according to Francisco Jeronimo, an analyst with technology market research firm International Data Corporation. Meta has partnered with Walmart, GameStop, Sephora, Expedia, OpenTable, and Shopify to incorporate their services into the Muse app. But e-commerce juggernaut Amazon refused to play ball with Meta, blocking the agent and citing concerns around how account data and credentials would be handled, while noting that agents do not offer Amazon’s personalized recommendations.

Online restaurant reservations platform Resy also told CNN that it does not currently permit unapproved third-party bots or agents to access its service, having locked a user’s account following attempts by a separate assistant called Instinct to book hundreds of tables per hour. While CNN was able to book a reservation through Muse after providing login information like a phone number and confirmation code, Resy integrates with ChatGPT and Claude and stated it will continue to evaluate opportunities as AI agents progress.

While Amazon may be an outlier, experts note that AI agents pose real risks that could give online service providers pause. These include a potential decrease in web traffic and the loss of brands' ability to learn about customer shopping habits or entice users with in-app promotions and product recommendations. Additionally, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company eventually plans to charge a commission for transactions made through Muse, meaning other companies may lose a cut of their sales. On the flip side, the upside could be huge, with Muse already downloaded more than 2.5 million times according to Sensor Tower, providing visibility to millions worldwide and appealing to smaller brands working with Shopify as well as travel platforms like Expedia.