Meta’s Muse AI Agent Could Make the Internet More Chaotic

Summary

Meta’s Muse is a free personal AI agent that uses its own browser to perform unsupervised tasks such as cancelling memberships, contacting sellers, negotiating with customer service and buying goods. Meta says it seeks permission before purchases and includes protections intended to make it behave like a reasonable personal assistant; the company also says the product underwent extensive testing. The article argues that the main risks will emerge when millions or billions of agents act at once on systems designed for human traffic. Bots could compete for scarce concert tickets, restaurant reservations and public appointments, while businesses may receive hundreds of automated inquiries instead of a few human ones. Websites that depend on advertising, subscriptions or human visits could face additional pressure because agents often complete tasks without clicking ads or visiting pages; one analysis cited by the article found bot traffic rose 124% in the year to June 2026. Experts also warn that agents could favor a platform’s business partners when making travel, shopping or entertainment choices, creating conflicts between user interests and commercial incentives. Muse requests access to Gmail, calendars and, on Mac computers, the wider system, making privacy and security central concerns. Meta says it separates Muse data from its advertising systems, removes personally identifiable information before using data to train models, and offers an opt-out, but critics question whether users should trust those assurances. Security researcher Patrick Wardle found a critical vulnerability soon after launch that could have allowed an attacker to hijack Muse and connected devices; Meta fixed it immediately and said the app had been delayed for further testing. The article describes possible responses including agent protocols, usage fees for automated scraping, stronger regulation and alternatives to first-come-first-served systems, while noting that comprehensive rules are still limited. The author ultimately revoked Muse’s Gmail access and deleted collected data after testing it, despite finding the agent useful and enjoyable.