Meta plans to fund its Muse AI agent with a cut of sales
Zuckerberg says merchants could eventually pay Meta when Muse helps users transact, while consumers get 100 million tokens a week free.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: X - Jonathan Awad
Why it matters
Meta is subsidizing Muse to secure a place between consumers and merchants. If the agent gains purchasing authority, transaction fees could turn Meta into a toll collector for AI-directed commerce.
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he expects Muse, Meta's new personal AI agent, to make money by collecting a small share of commerce completed through the service, using a large free-compute allowance to seed adoption first.
https://x.com/jsawadd/status/2098429587000586630
Zuckerberg described the model in a September 8th interview with journalist Alex Heath, saying Meta could eventually take "a very small cut" when Muse helps users make money, save money or complete purchases. He said the fee may come from the businesses involved in those transactions rather than directly from the user.
Zuckerberg has been testing Muse on projects that range from organizing baking sessions with his daughter to reviewing footage from his mixed martial arts training. Those examples frame his broader product thesis: Muse should maintain long-running projects and continue working after a user closes the app, rather than waiting for another prompt.
Baselayer co-founder Jonathan Awad (@jsawadd) focused on the business model in a September 11th thread, pointing to the connection between Meta's free allowance and its transaction ambitions. The video clip Awad shared matches Zuckerberg's full interview remarks.
Free compute, paid outcomes
Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8th. The agent runs on a dedicated cloud computer called Muse Secure VM and can browse websites, fill out forms, send emails, book travel and complete purchases. Users can talk to Muse through Meta's standalone app or WhatsApp.
The free tier includes up to 100 million tokens per week. Meta also offers Power and Maximum subscriptions priced at $20 and $100 per month for heavier use.
A token allowance does not translate cleanly into a set number of completed tasks. Agentic systems consume different amounts of compute depending on how long they reason, how many websites they visit and whether they repeat failed steps. Meta has not converted the 100 million-token figure into a typical number of bookings, purchases or business workflows.
The allowance still makes Meta's intent clear. Muse arrives with enough subsidized capacity to encourage consumers and small businesses to hand it recurring work. Zuckerberg said Muse could connect to Meta's advertising systems, help create a product and then assist with operating the resulting business continuously.
That puts Muse close to Meta's existing economic engine. Meta reported $59.36 billion in advertising revenue during the second quarter of 2026, accounting for nearly all of its $60.80 billion in total revenue. Zuckerberg also told investors in July that Meta expected some agent products to adopt results-based pricing, with businesses paying when Meta produces an outcome.
Commerce fees would extend that model beyond an ad click or conversion. Muse could influence what a user buys, execute the purchase and give Meta a claim on the transaction itself.
Zuckerberg left the fee rate, merchant terms and rollout timing undefined. Meta also has not explained how it would decide which transactions qualify for a fee or how merchant payments would interact with Muse's recommendations. Those details will determine whether Muse operates as a user-directed assistant, a new distribution channel for sellers or both at once.
Meta has to earn access before it can collect
The transaction strategy depends on users granting Muse access to email, calendars, accounts and payment flows. Meta built several controls around that problem. A separate Sentinel agent reviews Muse's attempts to reach the internet, and Muse asks for approval before sensitive actions such as sending an email or making a purchase. Users can inspect an audit trail and revoke connections.
For checkout, Muse integrates with Stripe's Link. The system generates a one-time card number so Muse and the merchant do not receive the user's underlying card details. Meta says Muse conversations and data stored in its virtual machine are not shared with Meta's advertising systems.
Meta plans to introduce a Confidential VM later in 2026, encrypted with a user-held key that Meta says would prevent even its own systems from accessing the contents. Until that ships, Meta is asking users to judge its current architecture while the most restrictive privacy option remains on the roadmap.
The free tier is also an expensive distribution bet. Meta spent $31.08 billion on capital expenditures during the second quarter and expects full-year capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion as it builds AI infrastructure. Giving each Muse user a persistent virtual machine and up to 100 million weekly tokens adds another claim on that capacity.
Zuckerberg's answer is to charge for results after Muse becomes useful enough to participate in commerce. Meta has spent two decades building free consumer products funded by businesses seeking access to their users. Muse updates that arrangement for an agent that can move from recommending a purchase to completing it.