Meta launched an AI agent called Muse that includes an agentic shopping feature allowing users to search for products across retail sites and complete purchases, The Conversation reported. Shopping has become one of the biggest usage drivers for Muse, according to a Meta spokesperson.
After initial setup, a user can ask Muse to find an item specifying brand, price and availability. The agent scans retail sites and returns suggested listings inside the Muse app or website. Muse can process payments through Meta's partners Link by Stripe and Shopify Shop Pay, which must be connected by the user.
PayPal has been announced as a future payment provider but is not yet available. Link generates a single-use card so the user's actual card details are not shared with the retailer, according to Meta. At Meta Connect, Zuckerberg announced that Meta will take a small fee on transactions.
Meta also launched Muse Spark Open, an open-weight AI model, alongside its earlier closed models Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full. Meta's chief of AI Alexandr Wang described Muse Spark Open as the most capable US open-weight model currently available.
In a blogpost, Meta described it as purpose-built for coding and agentic work, saying it handles long-horizon tasks and multi-step reasoning with strong safeguards built in. Alongside Meta, both Google and OpenAI have AI-powered shopping tools in development.
Some users complained on social media that Muse accessed their personal messages without authorisation, a claim Meta disputed. Wang said some users may have granted the agent permission to access certain communications earlier in a conversation and later forgotten having done so. Wang said Meta is working to educate users on these matters to build trust in the product.
The Conversation's analysis argues that AI shopping agents scanning for the lowest prices could intensify cost pressures on suppliers and ultimately on workers, particularly where labour exploitation is already a risk. The Conversation notes a structural tension: if cheaper goods are achieved partly by compressing wages or jobs, some consumers who benefit at the point of purchase may lose more as workers.
Consumers using Muse for shopping must connect a compatible payment service before the agent can complete a purchase on their behalf. Users who grant Muse access to their communications should be aware that permissions given earlier in a conversation remain active and may not be obvious later, according to Meta's own guidance. Meta will charge a small fee on each transaction completed through Muse.
Reporting: The Conversation, The Guardian, CNBC, Yahoo Finance
Background: CNBC
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
