Meta puts its marketing muscle behind Muse as the AI app takes off

Meta's AI app Muse has surpassed 3.4 million downloads since its September 8 launch, according to the latest estimates from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, up from 2.5 million at the start of the week. Early reviews praised its polished design and the model behind it, Muse Spark 1.3.

The figures do not yet capture the full effect of Meta Connect, the company's annual developer conference, where Meta announced upcoming features: video chat with the Muse avatar, computer use support on the Mac, a dedicated email address, more partners and connectors, and smart glasses integrations. The figures are current only as of Thursday and can lag behind real adoption.

Estimates diverge

Other firms see similar traction, though their numbers vary. Apptopia puts Muse's total downloads to date at 4.3 million, of which 2.6 million were on iOS alone. Appfigures estimates about 2.3 million installs as of Thursday, almost evenly split between iOS and Android. Muse is currently available only in the U.S. and Canada.

Sensor Tower also found daily active users climbed 27% on Wednesday, after Meta Connect wrapped.

A faster start than ChatGPT

Muse was already off to a strong start before the conference. Sensor Tower estimates it hit 2.8 million downloads in its first two weeks, averaging 55% day-over-day growth from September 8 to September 17. ChatGPT averaged 24% in its first 10 days; Claude and Grok saw declines at launch.

On Friday, September 18, Muse climbed to the top of the U.S. App Store and has held that ranking since. It also reached the top spot on Google Play on September 19.

House ads and a paid push

Part of the traction comes from the same cross-platform promotion that helped Threads top 500 million monthly active users: Meta markets Muse to existing Facebook and Instagram users. Connor Hayes, Meta's head of Threads, told Business Insider the approach differs this time: instead of matching user content to interests, Muse promos show what the agent can do for a specific user.

Meta began running house ads for Muse on September 9, a day after launch, Sensor Tower says. Within 10 days, the app received the majority of house ad promotions across Meta's properties, ahead of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Muse is also advertised on mobile ad networks and platforms including Reddit, TikTok and YouTube. By Tuesday, September 22, it ranked among the top 10 brands by ad spend.

Growth cannot be attributed to marketing alone: ads for Muse accounted for just 6% of ad impressions from launch through September 19.