Meta Muse Overtakes ChatGPT on US App Store, but User Trust Remains a Tough Test

Meta has officially placed its name among the top ranks of the AI app market. Its artificial intelligence agent, Muse, took the top spot for free downloads on the US App Store on September 18, just ten days after launch. Over that period, the app was downloaded more than 730,000 times in the US, according to Sensor Tower data. That achievement puts Muse above ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Anthropic's Claude, and even Instagram, which Meta also owns.

Muse's surge recalls the moment ChatGPT launched on the App Store in 2023. At the time, the OpenAI app recorded 697,000 downloads in the US in its first eight days, according to data.ai. However, ChatGPT was still in third place on the US free chart, based on Appfigures tracking. This difference in position shows that Muse is not merely imitating its predecessor's path, but also leveraging Meta's giant ecosystem already embedded in the devices of hundreds of millions of users.

Muse launched on September 8 and was designed not merely as a question-answering chatbot. The agent can execute tasks on behalf of users, such as sending emails, booking travel, and making purchases, after connecting with apps and personal accounts. The service is available in the US via iOS, Android, WhatsApp, and the web. Meta offers free access at first, with subscription options priced at US$20 and US$100 per month.

The market response was positive. JPMorgan changed its rating on Meta shares from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target from US$640 to US$820, as reported by CNBC. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced a Mac version of Muse on September 17, expanding the range of supported devices.

Nevertheless, Muse's download pace still trails ChatGPT on a daily basis. Muse averaged about 73,000 downloads per day in the US during its first ten days, while ChatGPT recorded 87,000 per day in its first eight days. This gap underscores that Muse's initial surge was driven more by Meta's massive user base than by the product's appeal alone.

“Trust is the new currency in AI agent adoption. Without it, even advanced features will be hard to accept,” said a technology analyst monitoring the industry, referring to the Oppenheimer survey.

Muse's biggest challenge is not feature competition, but building user trust. Oppenheimer's survey of 1,500 US consumers around the launch found that only 8% were willing to give their passwords to Meta. That figure is far below Google (30%), Apple (23%), and ChatGPT (16%). As many as 58% of respondents even said they would not share passwords with any AI agent. This doubt emerges amid Meta's record of having just agreed to a multi-state settlement over the impact of social media, reportedly worth US$18 billion in August.

Muse's performance on the Android platform is also unimpressive. On Google Play, the app ranked 338th in the Productivity category as of last week, according to TechCrunch citing Sensor Tower. This gap between iOS and Android could signal that Muse's penetration still depends on Apple's more controlled ecosystem, while Android users are more cautious or less exposed to promotions.

For Indonesia, this dynamic offers an important lesson. The AI market in the country is growing rapidly, with increasingly widespread adoption of chatbots and digital assistants. If Meta brings Muse to Indonesia, it will have to face similar challenges: user reluctance to grant access to personal accounts, especially after a number of data leak cases in the country. The Personal Data Protection (PDP) regulation that has come into force will also serve as strict guardrails for AI agents accessing sensitive data. On the other hand, Muse's presence could spur local players to develop AI agents that better understand the Indonesian context, including language and user habits.

Going forward, the AI agent battle is no longer just about who reaches No. 1 on the App Store fastest. Meta needs to prove that Muse can safeguard user security and privacy, while also convincing users that the autonomy granted is not misused. Can public trust in tech giants recover, or will it become a wall blocking mass adoption? Time will test it, but Meta's next move will strongly determine the direction of the global AI agent industry.