Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg sees a potentially lucrative future for its Muse AI assistant, but Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster warns that the product is already burning cash at an alarming rate.
Muse AI Gains Traction With Shoppers
During the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Zuckerberg said Meta’s family of apps now reaches 3.64 billion daily users, while Threads has surpassed Elon Musk’s X in monthly active users.
He highlighted Muse’s early momentum, saying more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada had set up personal AI agents in about six weeks. Roughly 25% of those users engage with Muse on any given day.
Shopping has emerged as the assistant’s most popular use case, with purchases averaging more than $200, Zuckerberg said. Users are also connecting Muse to email, calendars and other services to improve productivity.
“Now that Muse has clear product-market fit, we are entering a new phase and a more operational phase that is focused on scaling,” Zuckerberg said.
Gene Munster Warns of Muse AI’s Costly Growth
Munster offered a more cautious assessment on X.
“Even though there are only around 10m daily Muse users (my estimate), the product is losing a lot of money, more than any other products they’ve launched,” Munster wrote.
He said Zuckerberg believes the economics will eventually work as Meta expands computing capacity and earns fees from commerce transactions.
Futurum Equities’ chief market strategist Shay Boloor also took to X and said, “Zuckerberg says Muse could eventually generate more revenue per user than Facebook and Instagram with shopping already its most popular use and purchases averaging ~$200.”
He added that the AI assistant could help Meta build a new commerce business alongside its established advertising platform.
During the call, Zuckerberg outlined additional monetization plans, including subscriptions for advanced AI capabilities, paid business services and transaction fees from purchases facilitated by Muse.
Meta expects to improve Muse’s computing efficiency more than tenfold over the next year, Zuckerberg said, helping the product move toward profitability as revenue scales.
Meta Raises Spending Outlook Despite Earnings Beat
Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion, beating analyst estimates of $63.37 billion. Adjusted earnings of $7.40 per share also topped expectations of $5.74.
Meta now expects full-year 2026 expenses to total $175 billion to $179 billion, up from its earlier forecast of $165 billion to $169 billion, after a $9.9 billion charge related to third-quarter legal proceedings.
Price Action: Meta shares rose 2.17% in after-hours trading to $712.65, following a regular-session close at $697.52, according to Benzinga Pro.
According to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings, META maintains strong price trends in the short, medium and long term, while posting a moderate value score.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo Courtesy: Frederic Legrand – COMEO on Shutterstock.com
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