An estimated 10.2 million of Muse’s 10.9 million early downloads came from the United States, according to Sensor Tower figures reported by TechCrunch on October 20. Those totals cover the Meta AI companion’s first 40 days.
The launch appears to have attracted more than one-time visitors. Sensor Tower estimated that Muse’s seven-day and 14-day U.S. retention exceeded the averages reported for competing AI apps, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok.
Together, the measurements suggest Meta has found an effective way to attract people to a standalone AI product and persuade some to return. These are third-party estimates, not audited disclosures from Meta, and they describe a heavily promoted launch. A durable business or an established user habit remains unproven.
Muse’s U.S. Launch Outpaced ChatGPT’s, but Not Globally
According to Sensor Tower’s comparison, Muse’s first-40-day U.S. downloads substantially exceeded those of the competing AI apps named in TechCrunch’s report.
| AI app | Estimated U.S. downloads in its first 40 days |
|---|---|
| Muse | 10.2 million |
| ChatGPT | 3.7 million |
| Grok | 500,000 |
| Claude | 200,000 |
Muse attracted roughly 2.8 times as many U.S. downloads as ChatGPT during the equivalent launch window. That is a meaningful consumer-distribution result, although it says nothing by itself about which product produces better answers or completes tasks more reliably.
Only 11 other mobile apps had reached 10 million U.S. downloads within their first 40 days, Sensor Tower told TechCrunch. Most were games, including Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, and Pokémon GO. The two other non-game apps identified in the report were Disney+ and Meta’s Threads. Muse therefore joins a small historical group, as defined by Sensor Tower’s measurement and comparison.
Globally, ChatGPT had the larger launch. TechCrunch reported approximately 15 million worldwide downloads for ChatGPT in its first 40 days, ahead of Muse’s estimated 10.9 million. Muse was available only in the U.S. and Canada at the time of the report, while ChatGPT’s early mobile rollout reached additional markets.
Muse’s U.S. result is stronger in this dataset; ChatGPT’s worldwide launch total is larger. Calling either one the unqualified winner would conceal the different availability conditions.
The apps also launched in different years, with different levels of consumer familiarity with AI and different promotional support. Matching the first 40 days controls for elapsed time without recreating equal launch conditions. These figures compare mobile acquisition, not the services’ complete audiences across mobile apps, websites, and other access points.
Early Retention Gives the Download Count More Weight
Downloads measure acquisition. Retention provides some evidence of whether people come back after trying an app.
Sensor Tower estimated the following U.S. retention rates, as reported by TechCrunch:
| Retention measure | Muse | Reported competitor average |
|---|---|---|
| Seven-day retention | 30% | 19% |
| 14-day retention | 23% | 16% |
Muse’s advantage was 11 percentage points at seven days and seven percentage points at 14 days. Those are percentage-point differences, not increases of 11% and 7%.
The retention figures are arguably more informative than the download milestone alone. A large advertising campaign can generate trial without establishing repeat use. Sensor Tower’s estimates suggest that Muse’s acquisition surge was accompanied by stronger early return behavior than the reported competitor average.
Still, TechCrunch provides aggregate rival averages without individual retention figures for ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok. The published comparison does not establish that Muse beat every named app separately. Nor does the report provide enough methodological detail to assess how closely the cohorts were matched by launch stage, acquisition channel, device, or audience. Those factors matter when comparing an app receiving a major launch campaign with products at other points in their lifecycles.
Two weeks is also an early observation window. A 23% 14-day retention estimate cannot establish what usage will look like after several months, whether returning users accomplish useful work, or whether they will pay.
TechCrunch reported that Muse reached an estimated 2.5 million daily active users on October 16, up 15% week over week. This offers another indication of activity beyond installation, though it measures something different. The report does not clearly identify the geographic scope of that DAU figure, so it should not be divided by the U.S. download total to calculate an engagement rate.
Meta Has Two Acquisition Advantages Working Together
Muse has launched with resources unavailable to an unknown app developer.
TechCrunch attributes part of its success to Meta’s ability to promote products across its existing services. It points to Threads as an earlier example: the app was built around Instagram’s social graph, with content subsequently integrated into Instagram and Facebook.
That precedent demonstrates Meta’s distribution capacity, without establishing that Muse uses the same account mechanics or social-graph integrations. Meta can put a new product in front of people already using its services.
Muse also connects to an existing messaging platform. In its Muse launch announcement, Meta says people can communicate with the agent through the Muse app or directly in WhatsApp. That gives the product a familiar interaction channel alongside its standalone destination.
Paid advertising adds a second acquisition engine. According to Sensor Tower’s estimates reported by TechCrunch, Meta allocated 39% of its advertising spend to Muse in October, compared with 23% in September.
Sensor Tower placed Muse as the 21st-largest brand in the U.S. by advertising impressions during October, up from 73rd in September. The impression ranking measures exposure, not spending or conversions, but it supports the picture of an intensive promotional push.
The spending share requires a separate qualification: it reveals how Meta divided its advertising expenditure, not the absolute dollar amount devoted to Muse. Without the underlying spending totals, the increase from 23% to 39% does not establish how much Muse’s advertising budget rose in dollars.
The report does not separate downloads acquired through paid ads, Meta’s own services, app-store discovery, or word of mouth, either. Muse’s launch was heavily promoted, but the evidence cannot establish how much of its growth was purchased.
Sources
- TechCrunch on October 20techcrunch.com
- Muse launch announcementabout.fb.com
