Can Muse Overcome Meta’s Trust Issues?

Introduction

Meta’s new AI agent Muse took center stage at the company’s annual Connect event, where CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that the parent company of Facebook plans to push AI features into every corner of our lives. But as the tech world pivots toward enterprise AI, Meta is betting big on consumers. The question is whether users will trust Meta enough to let Muse into their most sensitive personal data.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and Anthony Ha broke down Meta’s AI announcements, which managed to steal the spotlight during a week otherwise dominated by new model launches from OpenAI and Anthropic.

A Different Bet in a Week of Enterprise AI

While other major AI companies focused on coding and enterprise tools, Meta moved in the opposite direction with a consumer focus and a cute, Tamagotchi style AI device that the company insists is for adults only. As Kirsten noted, this could be playing to Meta’s strengths.

Anthony Ha described the contrast as head spinning, since so much of the recent momentum has been toward enterprise. He pointed out that OpenAI and Anthropic are leading in many ways and are planning to go public, which creates intense pressure to generate revenue at an unprecedented scale. Enterprise, he suggested, is how they plan to do that.

But Meta may see a different opportunity. As Anthony put it, if that is where OpenAI and Anthropic are going, then maybe there is more room for Meta to make the more consumer friendly version and continue advancing AI on the consumer side.

Kirsten agreed, noting that while Meta is easy to criticize, the company has a strong track record of embedding itself in everyday life through Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. She said she has never really thought of Meta as an enterprise product anyway, so pushing on the consumer piece makes sense.

Sean’s Hands On Experience With Muse

Sean O’Kane tried Muse for himself and came away with mixed feelings. He described it as roughly Meta’s ground up version of an on your phone AI agent, similar to OpenClaw, which Meta essentially acquired and integrated. Having that kind of power in your hand, with a good chatbot as the interface, does seem pretty powerful.

One of the first things Sean did was try a suggestion Muse offered: scanning for unclaimed funds. To his surprise, it found some money in his name. It helped him make money on his first day, and a check is on its way to him in the mail.

But that excitement faded quickly. As Sean put it, that was a one time shot and not a repeatable thing. He called it more of a party trick type thing.

Kirsten pushed back, saying she did not see how that would not become wildly popular. Sean clarified that the more sustainable version, which Meta has talked up, is applying that idea to your real everyday financials, like giving Muse access to your credit card and Gmail account to cancel unused subscriptions or identify double charges, things the credit card company arguably should already be doing.

The Trust Wall

That is where the real problem emerges. As Sean explained, at that point you run into the trust wall with Meta.

He was surprisingly willing to explore Muse because, when he first downloaded it, it did not immediately plug into Threads, Instagram, and Facebook to pull up all his context. It treated him like a stranger at first, which made him more willing to use it. But as you keep using it, he said, it really tries to grab you and pull those things into the system so it can learn all about you.

Sean said he does not know that he will ever trust Meta the same way. He noted the interesting timing of having just upgraded his iPhone and using the new Siri, which actually works and can control his phone in helpful ways. He found himself thinking about how much more willing he would be to let the Siri version of Muse have that sensitive information, because he trusts Apple more, both from a cybersecurity perspective and because Apple’s business is not to sell him a bunch of crappy ads.

“Meta’s business is to sell you ads,” Sean said. “And yes, they’ll make the argument that the more they know about you, the more accurate and interesting the ads will be. Wake me up when we get to that fever dream.”

The Verdict So Far

Beyond the one time money find, which was great, Sean said he has not found anything else that is really all that useful. He did credit Meta for keeping the interactions consumer friendly, which he thinks helps the product and explains why people are talking about it so much.

The core tension remains: Meta is excellent at reaching consumers, but its advertising based business model may be the very thing that keeps users from trusting Muse with the data that would make it truly valuable.

Final Thoughts

Meta’s Muse is a bold consumer first play in a moment when most of the AI industry is chasing enterprise dollars. The product has genuine charm and some clever capabilities. But as the Equity team’s conversation makes clear, the biggest obstacle is not technology. It is trust. Until Meta can convince users that their sensitive information will not simply feed the ad machine, Muse may remain more of a party trick than an essential daily tool.

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