Personal AI assistants could soon reshape the digital economy

In the past two months Meta launched Muse and the startup Instinct launched personal AI agents that act proactively—checking in for flights, sourcing concert tickets, arranging dinners. Muse (US and Canada only, via WhatsApp, web and app, later Meta’s smart glasses) passed 10m downloads in a little over a month according to Sensor Tower, versus 3.7m for ChatGPT’s app in a comparable window, with similar retention. Instinct, used via iMessage or WhatsApp and still invite/waitlist-only, is growing about 10% a day; around half of sign-ups still use it weekly after a month and about 40% link a credit card within three weeks. The one-year-old startup has raised $1.4bn; founder Noah Shinn, 24, thinks most online spending will flow through agents. Both work with Stripe on a digital wallet; Shopify is easing purchases from its merchants and Meta works with Walmart, Instacart and Expedia, while Amazon, which earns from ads, is off limits to both (Andy Jassy says he is “very hopeful” of a fair deal). Zuckerberg envisages subscriptions plus a cut of transactions. Caveats: agents need private data and are exposed to prompt injection—Meta gives each user a private server and trained Muse to resist injections, but some researchers think it remains susceptible, and Instinct has disclosed less; Meta admits Muse will make mistakes. OpenAI and Google pitch agents at business, Airbnb plans one next year and Apple’s revamped Siri lacks autonomy. The Economist judges the contest open and suggests Apple “should consider messaging Instinct”.