Meta’s Muse reaches 10 million US downloads in 40 days

In short: Meta’s AI companion app Muse passed 10 million downloads in the United States within 40 days, and it is keeping users at higher rates than similar apps.

What happened

New data from market research firm Sensor Tower says Meta’s Muse has reached 10.9 million total downloads since launching in September. Sensor Tower estimates 10.2 million of those downloads happened in the United States.

Sensor Tower said only 11 other mobile apps have ever reached 10 million US downloads within their first 40 days. The most recent example was Meta’s Threads in 2023. Sensor Tower noted that many other apps that hit this mark were mobile games.

The report also points to heavy marketing. Sensor Tower estimates Meta devoted 39% of its US advertising spending to Muse in October, up from 23% in September. Muse also moved up to the 21st largest brand in the US by ad impressions this month, meaning people saw its ads more often.

Why it matters

Downloads show interest, but repeat use shows whether people find an app useful. Sensor Tower says Muse is doing better than other AI chatbot apps at getting people to come back. In the US, Muse had a 30% retention rate after 7 days and 23% after 14 days. (Retention rate is the share of people who still use an app after that many days, like seeing how many new gym members return the next week.) Rival apps like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok averaged 19% after 7 days and 16% after 14 days, according to Sensor Tower.

Source: TechCrunch AI