Could Meta’s personal AI agent actually stay ad-free?
A viral blog post from MBI Deep Dives makes the case that Meta may never need to introduce ads in Muse. The argument, essentially, is that Meta could monetize the agent through merchant transaction fees while using signals from Muse activity to improve advertising across its core ad channels, Facebook and Instagram. Keeping Muse ad-free could also help Meta establish something particularly important for personal agents: trust.
It’s an interesting argument. But we’re not entirely convinced.
Why This Matters:
Ads in AI chat experiences are no longer hypothetical. OpenAI has already introduced advertising in ChatGPT, demonstrating how sponsored content can appear in conversational AI. Meanwhile, Instinct, a competing AI agent/startup, just introduced Instinct Selections, which are ad-like recommendations that the company doesn’t seem to want to call ads. The rollout has prompted backlash from users.
In other words, advertising inside Muse wouldn’t necessarily be a deal breaker, but the format matters.
There’s also a potentially different advertising model worth considering: What if ads aren’t shown to users but to their agents instead? Advertisers could theoretically pay to have their products considered by Muse, with those commercial signals incorporated into purchasing decisions alongside factors like price and availability.
How that would work technically, or how Meta would disclose those commercial relationships, remains unclear. But it’s a distinction worth exploring: advertising that influences an agent’s decisions rather than appearing in the conversation itself.
Still, MBI Deep Dives raises a compelling point. Meta doesn’t necessarily need ads inside Muse to benefit financially. Its existing ads business could benefit indirectly from shopping activity, while transaction fees could provide another stream of cash.
Also, maybe Meta is watching the reaction to Instinct and considering its options. Still, this is Meta, a company with a long history of introducing ads across its products. Would it really leave another potentially valuable ad surface untouched?
Experts React:
The post has generated a lot of buzz on X. Here are some of the best takes/posts:
Our Take:
We think ads are coming to Muse — eventually. Keep in mind that, unlike Instinct and other would-be personal agents (even Dots from OpenAI), Meta has the luxury of waiting.
Its existing advertising business can subsidize Muse for years, giving Meta time to watch competitors experiment, understand what works and, perhaps most importantly, build a loyal user base before introducing advertising. (They basically did this with WhatsApp.)
By then, Muse could be so entrenched in users’ daily lives that ads become less of a concern. Meta could also reserve ads for free users while offering a paid, ad-free experience (similar to ChatGPT). Basically, Meta has options.
