Amazon began blocking Muse AI on Sunday night after Meta refused a request to remove the bot. The block hit a tool that had just surged to the top of U.S. app charts and pulled in more than 902,000 downloads in its first six days.
Meta launched Muse on Sept. 8. By Monday, it had reached No. 1 on free app store rankings across both Apple's iOS App Store and Google Play in the U.S.
Lara Hendrickson on Amazon's line
Lara Hendrickson, an Amazon spokesperson, said in an email that the company believes third-party applications that offer to make purchases on behalf of customers from other businesses should operate openly and respect service provider decisions about whether or not to participate.
Amazon also showed pop-up notifications to users saying Muse violates Amazon's terms of service. That puts the service in a narrower lane than a normal shopping app, because the issue is not just access but whether an automated buyer can keep operating once the store objects.
Muse AI, shopping, and access
Meta says Muse can build customized agents that handle complex, multi-step tasks across the web. It can also use a user's personal context across Facebook Marketplace and Instagram, and it can integrate with Gmail, Google Calendar, and OpenTable.
Meta is charging $20 per month and $100 per month for subscription tiers. It has also introduced API pricing for enterprise developers, which shows Muse is being sold as a product platform as well as a consumer app.
What happens after the block
The unresolved point is whether Meta changes Muse so it can return to Amazon.com Inc. or whether Amazon keeps the block in place. Until one side moves, users who want Muse's shopping features are left with a system that works in some places and hits a wall at Amazon.
