The Silver Assistant

Most AI chats are like a conversation with a very smart friend: you ask, it answers. Meta’s newest creation, Muse, is meant to go a step further. It can actually do things for you, like add items to a shopping cart or search for a used couch, and it keeps working after you close the app.

Muse launched on September 8, and it’s free to start, which makes it easier for most of our readers to try than OpenAI’s dots. But it also comes from Meta, the company behind Facebook, and it asks for a lot of access to your digital life. Here’s what it does, what it costs, and who might want to try it (or wait).

🤖 What Is Muse?

Muse is a personal AI agent. It runs on its own cloud computer with its own web browser, so it can click through websites and fill out forms the way you would. You can talk to it through Meta’s Muse website, the iPhone and Android apps, or in WhatsApp. Meta says AI glasses are coming later.

You decide which of your apps it can connect to, one at a time, and you can set what it’s allowed to do with each one. For example, you can let it read your email without letting it send anything.

🛒 What Can It Do?

According to Meta, Muse can:

• Send emails and handle scheduling
• Book travel and fill out forms
• Turn a saved recipe video into a grocery list
• Send party invitations
• Shop for you, with purchases going through Link by Stripe
• Work on longer projects, like putting together a year-long exercise plan

Those are Meta’s claims, and so far very little of it has been independently tested. In the one hands-on review we found, a tester had Muse add a sandwich to a bakery pickup cart and search Facebook Marketplace for couches. Both worked, and checkout stopped for the tester’s final approval. That’s encouraging, but it’s a small test.

💡 What This Means for You
Think of Muse as a helper that does the legwork of errands, like finding, comparing and filling out forms, and then stops to ask before it spends money.

💲 What Does It Cost, and Who Can Use It?

Muse is available only in the United States, for adults 18 and older. There’s a free plan, a Power plan at about $20 a month, and a Maximum plan at about $100 a month. Meta expects most people to stay on the free plan, and the app shows a usage meter so you can see how much you’re using. Reports say you’ll need to enter a payment card to sign up, even for the free plan, so read the sign-up screens carefully before you do. Pricing is new and may change.

🛡️ The Part Worth Reading Slowly

Here’s what Meta says it built in:

• Each person’s Muse runs in its own isolated virtual computer, and a separate security system called Sentinel controls what it can connect to.
• Muse can’t see your passwords or payment methods.
• Purchases need your approval.
• Your conversations aren’t shared with Meta’s advertising systems.
• You can tell Muse to forget specific things it has learned.

And here’s what gives careful readers pause:

• Training is on by default. Meta can use your Muse conversations to train its AI unless you turn that off under “Data controls.”
• Meta can still access the data it needs to run and secure the service. A more private “Confidential VM” is planned for later this year, but it isn’t here yet.
• It asks for a lot. One reviewer was repeatedly prompted to connect checking and savings accounts, scan an inbox, and share ID expiration dates.
• Early testing was mixed. One report says that in Meta’s own employee testing, Muse once got around a guardrail and exposed a tester’s personal photos.
• Meta’s track record. TechCrunch noted the company’s history of privacy fines and settlements, and that its security claims haven’t been independently verified.

⚠️ My Take
If you try Muse, I’d do it this way: sign up for the free plan, turn off AI training under Data controls first, connect nothing at first, then add one low-stakes thing like a recipe or shopping list. Keep bank and investment accounts disconnected. And remember that any message asking you to send money or share a password is a scam, even if it claims to come from an AI assistant. Our scam issue and privacy issue cover how to check.

🤔 Should You Try It?

It might be a good fit if you:

• Already use WhatsApp or Facebook comfortably
• Want help with errands like trip planning, shopping lists and Marketplace searches
• Are juggling family schedules and appointments for yourself or a loved one
• Are curious and happy to start small and check its work

You may want to wait if you:

• Don’t feel comfortable giving Meta access to your email, calendar or finances
• Have been targeted by a scam recently
• Would feel pressured by repeated requests to connect accounts
• Are happy with the regular AI chats we cover in our other issues

There’s no shame in waiting. Muse is brand new, and Meta’s stronger privacy protections aren’t out yet. We’ll keep watching and report back.

✅ Try This This Week

💬 Try This Prompt
Before you let any AI agent into your accounts, ask a regular AI assistant: “I’m thinking about letting an AI assistant connect to my email and calendar. Walk me through the privacy settings I should check first, and what I should never let it access.” It’s a good way to make your own safety checklist.

📬 A Question You Might Be Asking

“Is Muse the same as the Meta AI I’ve seen in Facebook or WhatsApp?”

Not exactly. Muse is a separate agent that takes actions for you, though you can message it in WhatsApp. It’s a different product from the chat assistant. If you’re unsure which one you’re talking to, look for the Muse name or the Muse app.

Sources: TechCrunch (Sept. 8, 2026); PBS NewsHour; The Neuron; The Week; Neoteo; eesel (a competing AI vendor, so weigh accordingly). Meta’s own pages were not reviewed directly.

See you next week,
— Steve