Meta’s Muse passed 10 million US downloads in its first 40 days, TechCrunch reported on 20 October 2026, citing figures from app intelligence provider Sensor Tower. The AI companion, which handles tasks for users, has reached a mark that only 11 other apps have hit within 40 days of launch.
Key points
- Sensor Tower estimates 10.2 million US downloads and 10.9 million worldwide since Muse’s launch.
- Its estimated US retention after 14 days is 23%, against a 16% average for rival apps.
- Meta devoted 39% of its advertising spend to Muse in October, according to Sensor Tower.
- A BNP Paribas analyst puts total downloads at more than 10.4 million and says Muse’s 14-day retention trails ChatGPT.
Muse reaches 10.2 million US downloads
Sensor Tower estimates that Muse has accumulated 10.9 million downloads since its September debut, including 10.2 million in the US. Kara Lee, the firm’s senior insights analyst, said the last app to reach 10 million US downloads within 40 days was Meta’s Threads in July 2023. Most of the other apps to do so were mobile games.
The US comparison with AI apps is stark: Sensor Tower puts ChatGPT at 3.7 million downloads in its first 40 days, Grok at 500,000 and Claude at 200,000. ChatGPT reached around 15 million downloads worldwide over the same period, while Muse is available only in the US and Canada.
Muse launched on 8 September, Yahoo Finance reported. Sensor Tower estimates that its daily active users reached 2.5 million for the first time on 16 October, up 15% from a week earlier.
Muse retention exceeds rival averages
Sensor Tower puts Muse’s US retention at 30% after seven days and 23% after 14 days. The corresponding averages for rivals including ChatGPT, Claude and Grok were 19% and 16%. Those usage figures give Meta more than a download count to point to.
Meta has also spent heavily to attract users. Sensor Tower estimates that Muse accounted for 39% of the company’s total advertising spend in October, up from 23% in September. It ranked 21st among US brands by advertising impressions in October, compared with 73rd in September.
The app held the top spot in the US App Store on every day after launch except 19 October, when streaming app Kick briefly displaced it. Muse regained that position on 20 October and had also ranked first on Google Play for the preceding 30 days.
BNP Paribas sees a ChatGPT retention gap
BNP Paribas senior analyst Nick Jones put Muse’s downloads since launch at more than 10.4 million, Benzinga reported. Jones said its 14-day retention trails ChatGPT’s, and its mobile app open rate has settled below rates for ChatGPT, Google and Meta’s existing apps.
Jones also identified daily active users and retention as measures of Muse’s progress. He said downloads that keep rising without matching growth in daily use could indicate a need to improve the product.
Meta released Muse Wonder on 12 October, with the product set to power Muse initially for paid subscribers. AI Affairs has reported on Meta’s decision to release Muse Spark Open while keeping Muse Wonder closed.
Black projects $36 billion in Muse sales
Deutsche Bank analyst Benjamin Black projects that Muse could generate up to $36 billion in sales by 2030, equivalent to 8% of Meta’s revenue. His lower-end projection is $2.4 billion in sales by 2030.
Meta is scheduled to report earnings after the close of trading on 21 October, Yahoo Finance reported.
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