Meta's Muse Is Building Momentum With Another Major Partnership

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has been one of the hottest big tech companies in the stock market this fall. Meta stock is up more than 30% over the last month, following a series of moves that are reshaping investor views of the social media monolith.

First, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a 6,500-word manifesto that laid out a bold vision for Meta and artificial intelligence, pledging to create free AI-powered personal agents and "superintelligence."

Then the company launched Meta One, its subscription service that provides expanded AI usage and premium features on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The subscription model has great potential for Meta's bottom line, providing an important secondary revenue source to the company's already-dominant advertising business.

And finally, Meta has launched Muse, its AI agent that the company says will work on a user's behalf and interact with apps to perform tasks the user requires. "It helps people stay on top of things, takes tasks and projects off their plate, and turns long-term goals into action plans," the company said.

Now, companies are starting to fall in line to have access to Muse. Instacart (NASDAQ:CART) announced on Sept. 22 that it is partnering with Meta to allow shoppers to use Muse to purchase groceries online through its platform. (Instacart's official name is Maplebear, but the company does business under the Instacart name.)

"Connectors like Muse expand access to online grocery," Instacart's chief technology officer, Anirban Kundu, wrote in an article on the company's website. "For some, a connector may be their first experience shopping for groceries online, with a simple path to create an Instacart account and place their first order. Instacart's AI grocery ecosystem is built to meet customers wherever they shop -- on our platform, on retailer sites, and in the AI experiences they already use."

Image source: Getty Images.

First Shopify, then Instacart

The announcement comes a day after Shopify (NASDAQ:SHOP) and Meta announced a collaboration that will provide Muse with access to Shopify's merchant catalog and checkout infrastructure, allowing it to shop and complete purchases for users. Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke called it an "easy and delightful way to check out with Muse," while Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the partnership would make it easier for people to shop and check out. "More partnerships like this coming soon," he wrote on an X social media post.

Muse offers some free services -- fulfilling the vision outlined in Zuckerberg's manifesto -- but also offers premium tiers ranging from $20 to $100 a month, thereby generating additional revenue for Meta.

What are analysts saying about Meta stock?

Wall Street experts have high expectations for Muse, with one analyst comparing it favorably to ChatGPT, the generative AI tool that debuted nearly four years ago and triggered the massive build-out of AI and hundreds of billions in revenue for top tech companies.

"While it is still early, we believe that Muse ⁠has the potential to become the most widely used consumer AI application since ChatGPT," J.P.Morgan analysts said in a note.

Jefferies analyst Brent Thill set a $875 price target for Meta stock, representing potential upside of 17% on top of Meta's gains this month. "Prior to Muse, investors had completely ⁠dismissed the ​idea that Meta would be able to release a personalized consumer AI agent, favoring (Alphabet) ​instead," he said.

It's clear that Muse is becoming more than just another AI assistant. Meta seems poised to attract major partners while opening the door to new subscription and e-commerce opportunities. We may be seeing the next major growth engine for Meta Platforms stock.

JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, JPMorgan Chase, Meta Platforms, and Shopify. The Motley Fool recommends Instacart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.