Meta's Muse AI assistant passes 10 million US downloads in 40 days, Sensor Tower says
In short
Sensor Tower data show Meta's AI assistant Muse has had 10.9 million downloads since its September launch, 10.2 million of them in the US. IT Home said only 11 other apps have reached 10 million US downloads within 40 days of launch. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on the earnings call that Muse is not yet profitable because it needs a lot of computing power.
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Meta's AI assistant Muse has been downloaded 10.9 million times since its September launch, 10.2 million of them in the US, according to the latest data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, as reported by IT Home, GeekPark and CLS. Sensor Tower senior insights analyst Kara Lee said only 11 other apps have reached this milestone after launch, the last being Meta's Threads in July 2023. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Lee said most of the others were mobile games, such as Fortnite, PUBG Mobile and Pokemon GO, and that Disney+ and Threads are the only non-game apps on the list. IT Home said ChatGPT had 3.7 million US downloads in its first 40 days, while Grok and Claude had 500,000 and 200,000 in the same period. It added that ChatGPT's global downloads in its first 40 days were about 15 million, but said the two are not directly comparable because Muse is available only in the US and Canada. [ 1 ]
Sensor Tower data show Muse's US retention is 30% after 7 days and 23% after 14 days, against competitor averages of 19% and 16%. IT Home said Muse reached 2.5 million daily active users on 16 October, up 15% from the previous week. It said Muse has mostly held first place on the US Apple App Store, apart from a brief overtaking by the streaming app Kick on 19 October, and has ranked first on Google's store for 30 days. [ 1 , 3 ]
IT Home said Meta's advantage comes from promoting new apps through its other products, with Muse promoted across apps that have 3.6 billion daily active users. According to Sensor Tower, Meta spent 39% of its October advertising budget on Muse, up from 23% the month before, and Muse rose to 21st from 73rd among US brands by ad impressions. CLS quoted analysts as saying Meta's app ecosystem and cross-platform promotion largely explain its repeated hits. [ 1 , 3 ]
CLS reported on 22 October that Meta's third-quarter revenue and guidance beat Wall Street expectations, with fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $73 billion to $76 billion and shares up about 3% after hours. It said Zuckerberg disclosed that more than 10 million people in the US and Canada had created Muse personal agents in the past month and a half. [ 4 ]
IT Home reported that on the earnings call Zuckerberg said Muse is not yet profitable because it needs a lot of computing power, and that Meta plans to raise its efficiency sharply next year. He said that if computing efficiency keeps improving quickly, Muse could stay highly profitable for years. IT Home also reported that Zuckerberg said at the Meta Connect event that Meta plans to earn money from Muse by facilitating shopping deals and charging a small fee. [ 5 ]
Why it matters
The figures, reported by tech and business outlets, show how quickly Muse has grown against AI rivals such as ChatGPT, Claude and Grok in the US. IT Home reported that Muse is available only in the US and Canada, and that Zuckerberg gave heavy computing demand as one reason it has not been rolled out worldwide.
Key facts
- Sensor Tower data show Muse has been downloaded 10.9 million times since its September launch, including 10.2 million times in the US. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Sensor Tower analyst Kara Lee said only 11 other apps have reached this milestone after launch; the last was Meta's Threads in July 2023. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Muse's US retention rate is 30% after 7 days and 23% after 14 days, against rival averages of 19% and 16%. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Muse reached 2.5 million daily active users on 16 October, up 15% from the previous week, IT Home reported. [ 1 ]
- Meta put 39% of its October advertising budget into promoting Muse, up from 23% in September, according to Sensor Tower data cited by IT Home. [ 1 ]
- Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the US and Canada have created Muse personal agents in the past month and a half, CLS reported. [ 4 ]
- Zuckerberg said Muse is not yet profitable because it needs a lot of computing power, and that Meta plans to raise its efficiency sharply next year. [ 5 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether Zuckerberg's figure of more than 10 million people creating Muse agents overlaps with the Sensor Tower download count. Only CLS reported the earnings-call figure, and the documents do not say how it relates to the download data.
- How long the current growth and high retention will last. IT Home said promoting an app and keeping users after the initial interest fades are two different things; the documents give no longer-term data.
- How well Muse's growth compares with ChatGPT's worldwide. IT Home said ChatGPT had about 15 million global downloads in its first 40 days, but that the two are not directly comparable because ChatGPT served more markets.
- Muse is currently available only in the US and Canada. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- IT Home reports the Sensor Tower data on Muse downloads (21 October). [ 1 ]
- GeekPark includes the Muse milestone in a news roundup (21 October). [ 2 ]
- CLS reports the downloads and retention figures (21 October). [ 3 ]
- CLS reports Meta's third-quarter results and Zuckerberg's comment on Muse (22 October). [ 4 ]
- IT Home reports Zuckerberg's comments on Muse and Reality Labs profitability (22 October). [ 5 ]