Meta’s recently launched AI agent app Muse has drawn more mobile downloads in its first 12 days than ChatGPT did over the same early window in the U.S. and Canada, according to estimates from market intelligence provider Appfigures reported by Techcrunch. In that matched subset of the data, Muse recorded 1.8 million downloads to ChatGPT’s 1.3 million.
Appfigures also put Muse’s total global installs at 2.8 million over the first 12 days. Its U.S. daily active users reached 642,000, against 231,000 for ChatGPT at the same point, and 359,000 on iOS alone, still above ChatGPT’s figure. Appfigures bases its figures on third-party estimates and does not have access to Meta’s internal numbers, Techcrunch noted, and Meta has not released public adoption figures despite being asked for comment.
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Key facts
- Appfigures estimates Muse saw 1.8 million U.S. and Canada iOS downloads in its first 12 days versus 1.3 million for ChatGPT, with 2.8 million total global installs.
- Muse reached 642,000 U.S. daily active users compared with 231,000 for ChatGPT at the same point; on iOS alone, 359,000 versus ChatGPT’s count.
- Muse moved from No. 2 on the U.S. App Store to No. 1, Business Insider reported Friday, passing ChatGPT among free iOS apps.
- CNBC reported Muse racked up 730,000 downloads over about five days after launching on Sept. 8, per Sensor Tower, and topped the U.S. iOS free app chart ahead of ChatGPT, Polymarket, Kashi, Claude and Grok AI.
- Amazon blocked the Muse bot from its site over privacy and security risks, while Shopify said Monday it would work with Meta on agentic checkout, per CNBC.
How the two launches compare
Comparing the two apps directly has been awkward because they launched differently. ChatGPT arrived on mobile globally but only on iOS, while Muse is available on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play but only in the U.S. and Canada. To line up the numbers, Appfigures restricted its comparison to U.S. and Canada iOS data for both apps over their first 12 days.
CNBC reported separate estimates from Sensor Tower, which said Muse’s cumulative downloads topped ChatGPT, Claude and Grok during the same post-launch window. Sensor Tower also cautioned that staggered platform releases across Apple and Google Play would affect the totals. The two firms do not give the same window measurement: Appfigures uses the first 12 days, while CNBC’s Sensor Tower figure covers about five days after the Sept. 8 launch. CNBC did not report a global install figure comparable to Appfigures’ 2.8 million.
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Appfigures said more than 95% of Muse users are also Facebook users and 63% are Instagram users, a signal of how Meta’s existing apps may feed the new one. Meta already used cross-promotion to build Instagram’s Threads, which has more than 500 million users.
Why it matters
Muse represents a push into consumer AI agents that perform tasks such as filling out forms and organizing email, powered by Meta’s Muse Spark family of models, per CNBC. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon told CNBC that most agentic use cases have not been aimed at general consumers, while Muse and similar tools may open the door to wider adoption. The attention lifted Meta’s stock more than 11% on Monday, and Wells Fargo lifted its price target to $796, according to multiple reports cited by CNBC.
The app also faces headwinds beyond momentum. Amazon’s decision to block the Muse bot over privacy and security risks shows that service providers can refuse automated agents, and Rasgon questioned whether Muse’s appetite for personal data will hurt Meta over time. Meta separately agreed to pay roughly $17 billion to settle with a coalition of state attorneys general over alleged harms to children and teenagers from apps including Facebook and Instagram. It is unclear how long Muse will stay on top; CNBC noted that OpenAI’s Sora and Meta’s Vibes AI video tool had strong early download periods that did not last.
What to watch
Two concrete threads: whether Meta publishes adoption figures of its own, which it has so far declined to do, and whether more service providers follow Amazon in restricting the Muse bot while others, like Shopify, sign on. The durability of Muse’s chart position after its first two weeks will be the next data point.
Readers should note this is not financial advice; the relevant markets are volatile and uncertain.
Sources: TechCrunch, Cnbc
