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Meta decided to move forward with releasing Muse, its AI agent product, after a smaller startup called Instinct created a competing agent that gained traction. The decision came despite Meta's earlier hesitation over safety concerns.
- Instinct, a 14-person startup, built an AI agent that can operate apps and software on behalf of users, and it was gaining momentum in the market
- Meta had developed a similar product called Muse but held back from releasing it due to safety concerns
- Zuckerberg's decision to greenlight Muse suggests competitive pressure from Instinct outweighed internal safety reservations
Meta's head of AI product acknowledged that Muse was "heavily inspired" by OpenClaw and directly copied its file structure and configuration files, though the company claims Muse was built from scratch. Users discovered the two AI agents shared identical file names and nearly identical content in key system files like SOUL.md.
- Meta copied OpenClaw's exact file names and configuration content, including the SOUL.md file that defines an AI agent's personality and behavior — Meta justified this by saying the original creator "got those things exactly right"
- Muse hit No. 1 on the U.S. App Store and is outpacing ChatGPT's launch trajectory, suggesting the OpenClaw-inspired approach resonates with users
- This follows Meta's established pattern of copying successful products (like Snapchat's Stories format), raising questions about the company's approach to product innovation
Amazon shut down Meta's Muse AI agent from making purchases on its platform, saying Meta didn't get permission and citing privacy concerns about how Muse accesses user data. Meta claims Muse can't see payment details, but Amazon is increasingly hostile toward third-party AI services accessing its store.
- Amazon blocked Muse without prior notification to Meta, citing unauthorized access and concerns that Muse fails to identify itself and potentially captures customer credentials
- Meta launched Muse earlier this month claiming it cannot access secure login details or payment info, but reports emerged that Muse can read user message contents without proper permissions
- Amazon is systematically limiting AI access to its platform—it previously sued Perplexity's shopping feature and started stripping product details from confirmation emails to prevent data mining by external AI services