Meta's Muse works but crawls personal data, tester finds

Meta's launch of Muse marks its first real foray into AI-powered productivity tools, a shift from a company that previously prioritized entertainment. The assistant carries out actions using a cloud-based virtual computer, and in testing, it successfully deleted thousands of promotional emails and purchased workout tops with consideration for items already in the cart. However, the experience was overshadowed by the amount of personal information Muse autonomously gathered.

Muse pulled specific interests from Instagram's API data, which surfaces more than the app's user interface, and it admitted to using an Amazon shipping address to infer the reviewer's location. Meta says it designed Muse to only exchange data with third-party apps that's needed for them to work, and doesn't share information with advertisers. Yet the reviewer's unease reflects a broader tension: as AI agents take on more personal tasks, the boundary between helpful automation and invasive data collection becomes harder to define. The outcome likely hinges on whether Meta can convince users that Muse's access is limited and transparent, especially given its privacy track record.