Meta’s Muse Hits 10M U.S. Downloads in 40 Days

Meta’s new artificial intelligence companion app, Muse, has crossed a major milestone by pulling in 10 million downloads in the United States within its first 40 days on the market. According to market intelligence data from Sensor Tower published by TechCrunch, the app debuted in September and quickly accumulated 10.9 million downloads globally, with the vast majority—10.2 million—coming straight from U.S. users.

This rapid ascent places Muse into a rare tier of mobile app history. Sensor Tower analysts note that only 11 other apps have ever hit this specific milestone within a 40-day window following their public launch. For Meta, the app represents its fastest major software rollout since the historic launch of its text-based social platform, Threads, in July 2023.

The Power of Cross-Promotion and Advertising Spend

Scaling a new app to millions of users in weeks takes more than a good idea. Meta’s massive ecosystem, which connects roughly 3.6 billion daily active users across its existing social apps, gives the company a massive distribution advantage. Much like Threads leveraged Instagram’s existing social graph to jumpstart adoption, Muse benefited from immediate in-app visibility.

However, organic reach wasn’t the only engine driving growth. Sensor Tower data reveals that Meta poured heavy financial backing into the app, allocating 39% of its total advertising budget to market Muse in October, up from 23% in September. This push vaulted Muse to rank as the 21st largest brand in the United States by ad impressions that month, illustrating how fierce the consumer AI landscape has become and how much capital is required to capture public attention.

How Muse Compares to ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok

Raw download numbers tell only part of the story. The real test for any AI tool is whether people keep using it after the initial hype dies down. In early head-to-head comparisons, Muse is holding onto its audience better than several well-known AI competitors.

Sensor Tower data shows Muse secured a 30% retention rate after seven days and 23% after 14 days among U.S. users. By comparison, popular conversational tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and xAI’s Grok averaged a 19% seven-day retention rate and a 16% 14-day retention rate during their early phases. Muse also recorded 2.5 million daily active users in mid-October, showing steady week-over-week growth.

When looking at pure U.S. download counts during their respective first 40 days on the market, the gap is wide:

• Muse: 10.2 million U.S. downloads
• ChatGPT: 3.7 million U.S. downloads
• Grok: 500,000 U.S. downloads
• Claude: 200,000 U.S. downloads

Global numbers, however, tell a slightly different story. ChatGPT rolled out internationally to countries like Germany, Brazil, and Japan right away, helping it reach roughly 15 million global downloads in its first 40 days. Muse, on the other hand, launched with a much tighter geographic rollout limited strictly to the U.S. and Canada.

App Store Dominance and Market Standing

On domestic app marketplaces, Muse has maintained an iron grip on the top charts. The software held the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store for nearly every single day during its first month out. The only brief interruption happened when a streaming app named Kick snagged the top spot for a single day before Muse quickly reclaimed it. It has enjoyed a similar dominance on Google Play in its approved regions, proving that cross-platform appeal remains strong for Meta’s latest AI venture.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Meta’s Muse app?

Muse is an artificial intelligence companion application developed by Meta designed to interact with users and assist with daily conversational tasks.

Where can you download Muse?

As of its initial launch window, Muse is officially available only to users located in the United States and Canada.

Why did Muse grow so fast?

The app’s rapid user acquisition was driven by heavy cross-promotion across Meta’s massive social media ecosystem and a major surge in digital advertising spend.

Sources and further reading

• TechCrunch: Meta’s Muse hits 10M U.S. downloads in 40 days