Meta's Muse: 2.5 Million Installations, OpenAI Prepares Its Response

Muse, Meta's assistant, has surpassed 2.5 million mobile installations in just 13 days and relies on a network of over 3 billion daily users. In light of this surge, there are signals suggesting that OpenAI may unveil its counter-offer at DevDay. Beyond downloads, analysts remind us that retention remains the decisive indicator, an area where ChatGPT is currently leading.

Record Downloads and Giant Audience Strengthen Meta's Advantage

According to Sensor Tower, Muse was downloaded by over 2.5 million people on mobile within 13 days of its launch. Meta's services also boast more than 3 billion daily active users across Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp. ChatGPT, on the other hand, reached 1 billion weekly active users this year.

For Seema Shah, the competition remains open, as retention matters more than the initial download momentum. She states that ChatGPT currently excels in engagement, churn, and retention metrics. Meta's smart glasses, touted as a success, provide an additional touchpoint for Muse, and the company's ability to promote its innovations on a large scale is frequently highlighted, along with advertising resources that could fund significant computational needs.

A Flourishing Assistant Market: Instinct, Grok Bot, Gemini Spark, and Muse

Several assistants are emerging: Instinct, backed by a young startup led by a 23-year-old founder, SpaceXAI's Grok Bot, and Google's Gemini Spark. Instinct focuses on extreme ease of use, requiring no app download, just a simple message.

This excitement is part of a trend in AI personal assistants. Muse has surpassed ChatGPT in the rankings of free apps this week. Early tech-savvy users have provided very positive feedback, and Seema Shah sees Muse's simplicity as its main asset.

What Muse Does Today and What Meta Is Preparing for Tomorrow

Muse operates in a messaging-type interface, can browse, click, type, and hold online conversations, and handles tasks assigned by the user. Designed for work, it also answers questions. The service is touted as being quick in task execution.

Meta plans to integrate Muse into its smart glasses and introduce a Tamagotchi-inspired device called Muse Charm, both announcements made during its Connect conference on Wednesday. "Browser usage" is among the capabilities that Muse relies on.

OpenAI Delays but Hints at a Response

OpenAI has yet to launch a direct response to Muse, but an announcement could come next Tuesday at DevDay. Rumors are circulating, and Thibault Sottiaux, product lead at OpenAI, hinted at an imminent announcement, responding to a post listing Muse, Instinct, and Grok Bot with "that's enough" along with an emoji. Seema Shah also expects an OpenAI launch close to Muse and Instinct. On Monday, features in development to compete with the new assistants were mentioned, and Sam Altman wrote on X that he wants to unveil something big next week.

In this phase where early users are exploring new options, OpenAI is described as at risk of being left behind. Analyst Avi Greengart observes that everyone is converging towards this type of assistant and that companies are seeking a sustainable and monetizable use of AI.

OpenAI's Historical Advantage Mitigated by Meta's Distribution

Anthropic has long been identified as OpenAI's main rival, but ChatGPT was perceived as significantly larger than Claude. Muse's capabilities are not unprecedented, many of which are already present in ChatGPT, which remains a public benchmark without being the latest novelty. OpenAI is described as a leader in agentic AI, while facing the risk of being surpassed by simpler offerings.

Muse's progress is seen as problematic for Sam Altman. It suggests the possibility of accomplishing tasks without relying on OpenAI's advanced models and implies that Meta could fund a large-scale free competitor. The "browser usage," emphasized by OpenAI, does not appear to be a solid barrier. In this context, Meta's distribution power and financial resources weigh heavily on OpenAI's attempt to establish itself as a unique work solution.