10 million people have activated Meta's Muse agent, but Hilton and eBay barely see any orders

Meta's Muse agent has become one of the most discussed topics on recent public-company earnings calls. Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the US and Canada have activated Muse, and more than 25% of them use it for shopping, more often than for any other task and above Meta's expectations. According to the company, millions of people are already making purchases through the agent with an average order value above $200. But Wired surveyed executives at roughly 50 companies in travel, telecom, food and self-storage, and the picture turned out to be far more modest.

Companies see almost no orders from agents

The wording on earnings calls and in conversations with Wired is strikingly similar. DoorDash described the number of orders from Muse and other agents as "hundreds." T-Mobile said it had not seen "anything meaningful." Hilton called bookings through agents "insignificant," Ally Financial called them "pretty low," and eBay called them "very, very small." Eternal, the Indian delivery giant, described agent-driven commerce as "close to zero."

Wired also checked a separate investor fear: that users could tell an agent to get rid of forgotten subscriptions and memberships. Fitness chain Life Time Group "doesn't see a single one" of those cancellations, and Public Storage and Hartford Insurance Group report similar data. That leaves the question of where users of Muse, Instinct and other popular agents are spending money, if not at these companies. Meta declined to comment beyond the earnings call and pointed to partnerships with 10 retailers, including Walmart, Best Buy and Gap. Many of them reported results before Muse launched and have not yet disclosed data.

Sites are already being reworked for agents

Despite weak demand, some companies are already optimizing their interfaces. Arli Sisson, Chipotle's chief digital officer, said agents stumbled on applying loyalty-program discounts and on orders placed outside business hours. Muse's launch added a single-digit percentage to agent orders, and the chain is now cleaning up its site code to make it easier for agents to check out on behalf of hungry people. Similar discussions are under way at DoorDash, although CEO Tony Xu, who sits on Meta's board of directors, acknowledged that the current excitement around agents may be "crazy."

Costco and Extra Space Storage say sales coming from chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT are growing quickly after they adapted their content for those bots. Both companies now plan to repeat the approach for agents.

Meta's commission, risks and shifting positions

This access will come at a price. Zuckerberg said Meta will charge businesses a commission on transactions through Muse, and suggested this revenue line could eventually surpass advertising. Elie Maalouf, CEO of InterContinental Hotels, is cautious: the company has "not come to any conclusions about a possible partnership, if one happens at all."

Security concerns and erroneous orders remain pressing issues. This week, Bank of America warned customers about handing logins to AI assistants: the customer is responsible for any actions taken with that access. There is also a fear that agents push shoppers toward price comparison and squeeze margins. Most executives reject that view: in their opinion, product quality, service and brand trust will keep influencing choices even when humans are less involved.

Positions are shifting fast. A month ago, Amazon blocked Muse, explaining that users would prefer its own Alexa agent. Now the company allows third-party agents to work with its platform. Insurance marketplace Insurify also blocked Muse's access but changed its mind after deploying technology that guarantees agents accurate quotes.

For now, there is a gap between Meta's claims and what sellers see. Either a significant share of purchases is going to companies that have not yet disclosed data, or Muse users are spending in other categories. For e-commerce product managers and developers, the practical takeaway is simple: errors in discounts, business hours and checkout forms already trip up agents, and fixing them is a cheap improvement to make before volumes grow.