AI: Meta launches Muse despite internal concerns over agent security and access to personal data

Meta launched Muse, an AI agent capable of booking travel, sending an email, filling out forms and most importantly making online purchases after user validation. Presented on September 8, Muse operates in a secure virtual machine and notably uses Stripe Link to pay. Meta is rolling it out in the US first on iOS, Android and muse.ai.

Muse takes AI from response to action

Meta does not present Muse as an additional chatbot. The goal is to give the AI ​​a complete task and let it move forward until human intervention becomes necessary. The difference is significant as AI agents are already starting to manage payments and stablecoins.

Muse can open its own browser, navigate between different services, fill out forms or arrange a trip. Meta also gives longer examples: preparing to sell a car, trying to reduce a bill, or adapting a training program.

The agent does not stop when the user closes the application. Some tasks may continue in the background. Muse then returns when something changes or permission becomes necessary.

The system is based on Muse Spark, which Meta presents as its most capable model yet for agentic tasks. Access is also via WhatsApp. The user can therefore speak to Muse as a contact, then ask it to perform a series of actions.

Meta begins in the United States. Muse is available on iOS, Android and on the web, with a free plan covering the majority of uses and subscriptions for users needing more capacity. An arrival on Meta’s AI glasses is also announced.

Stripe Gives Muse the Ability to Buy on the Internet

The most concrete part concerns payment. Meta has integrated Link, Stripe’s portfoliodirectly in Muse. At more than a million merchants who already accept Link, the agent can use the payment method registered by its owner.

For other sites, Stripe can generate a single-use virtual card, limited to the pre-approved purchase. The real card data is therefore not communicated to the merchant site.

Muse requires confirmation before certain sensitive operations, including sending an email or making a purchase.

Meta also claims that the agent does not have direct access to passwords or payment data. They are kept in a secure space that the system can call upon without displaying them. A log also allows you to see what Muse has done and what it plans to execute.

This question of control becomes central as AI-automated payments gradually leave the experimental stage. Meta has built Muse Secure VM for this, a virtual machine dedicated to each agent. A second system, called Sentinel, controls actions intended for the Internet and can request additional authorization.

Later this year, Meta is also planning Muse Confidential VM. The data and conversations would then be encrypted with a key held only by the user, so Meta claims it would not be able to access it itself. This function is not yet available.

Payments become a new competition ground for AI

Above all, Muse shows how far the current AI race is moving. Assistants have long been evaluated on their ability to answer, summarize, write or code. Agents are now judged on what they can actually accomplish: booking, negotiating, purchasing and moving money.

Stripe clearly wants to occupy this transactional layer. Its Link wallet immediately gives Muse access to more than a million businesses, without requiring everyone to adapt their system to the agent. Shop Pay is also expected to be added soon.

However, there is something missing from the Meta launch: crypto. Muse does not use stablecoins for its advertised purchases. The system currently relies on Stripe Link and traditional payment methods for American users.

Elsewhere, however, the market is taking another direction. Circle is developing wallets for AI agents, Visa is studying stablecoins for automated micropayments and Franklin Templeton believes that blockchains could become an important infrastructure for this new machine-to-machine economy.

Meta already knows this track. The group has notably tested stablecoin payments in Colombia and the Philippines, with Stripe as a partner and settlements using Polygon and Solana in particular. Muse therefore starts with the bank card rather than the blockchain. But the important step has already been taken: Meta’s AI is no longer limited to suggesting a purchase. It can now go as far as payment, subject to the agreement of its user.