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AIActive today · day 7

Meta's Muse AI Agent Hit by Zero-Day, Human Call Centers, and Amazon Block

Days after launch, Meta's Muse assistant faces a patched hijack flaw, a fresh hidden-setting backdoor risk, a quiet human call-center workaround, and a shopping ban from Amazon.

Part of a larger narrative

Meta's AI Trademark Collision

3 stories · since Sep 2 · newest 5h ago — Meta's launch of its new Muse AI agent triggers immediate trademark and branding conflicts as the company claims social media handles belonging to the…

  1. Meta's Muse AI Agent Hit by Zero-Day, Human Call Centers, and Amazon Blockyou are here
  2. Meta's new AI agent Muse claims rock band Muse's social media handles
  3. Meta launches Muse AI agent; shares jump on Wall Street bet

What to know

  • Muse launched with sweeping permissions to act on users' files, messages and finances, and within days drew a patched zero-day plus a newly reported hidden-setting flaw that could turn it into a backdoor.
  • Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its site over unauthorized access, while Shopify and PayPal moved the opposite direction, integrating Muse into checkout — a split over who controls agentic commerce.
  • Reuters found Meta quietly routing some Muse phone calls to human call-center workers, a practice internal staff warned risked leaking private user data and undercutting Meta's AI marketing.
  • By September 23, coverage had widened into stock-market jitters (a Schwab selloff tied to AI disruption fears) and broader analysis questioning how much power Muse gives Meta over users' autonomy and data.

The dispute Whether Muse represents a genuine, monetizable leap in AI utility worth its security and privacy tradeoffs, or overhyped infrastructure spending papering over thin real-world use cases. · positions read across 146 posts and comments

most voices

Muse's usefulness is overstated and doesn't justify Meta's massive capex or the hype around it.

  • “Convincing people who use IG (and) ... completely misreads the actual financials ... Direct AI monetization is still a tiny rounding error compared to that ~$140B on hardware and infrastructure.”

    interwebzdotnet · Reddit ↗
many voices

Muse's permissions and design pose serious privacy and security risks.

  • “The internet of things is shit. GenAI/LLMs just makes it worse.”

    pecunium.bsky.social · Bluesky ↗
some voices

Meta's AI push, including Muse, is a legitimate business shift and the stock reflects it, not hype.

  • “It may be promoted but not a scam. We are in the early midst of some major feature releases from meta. There’s a reason why the stock has been on fire for a month.”

    BackendSpecialist · Reddit ↗
some voices

Amazon's block is about protecting its retail relationship (disintermediation), not genuine security concerns.

  • “Amazon's concerns here aren't technical. It's entirely about being disintermediated.”

    wdr1 · Hacker News ↗

“Meta says it issued a fix for the Muse zero-day vulnerability that would have let attackers do “whatever” they wanted on a victim's Mac, highlighting the inherent dangers of AI helpers.”

Meta / Wired, company statement via reporting · Wired ↗ · Sep 22

Meta Creator of Muse AI assistantAmazon E-commerce platformTobi Lütke (@tobi) Shopify CEOPayPal Payments companyUnnamed Meta employee(s) Internal critic

Meta's Muse AI Agent Hit by Zero-Day, Human Call Centers, and Amazon Block
arstechnica.com

How it unfolded 8 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesvideospostscomments

Peak 45 pieces in two hours at Sep 21, 3 AM; 461 pieces over 7 days (200 articles · 2 videos · 200 posts · 59 comments) Sep 16, 5 PM — 3 pieces · 2 articles · 1 post — Newswires 2, X 1Sep 16, 7 PM — quietSep 16, 9 PM — quietSep 16, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Reddit 1Sep 17, 1 AM — quietSep 17, 3 AM — quietSep 17, 5 AM — quietSep 17, 7 AM — quietSep 17, 9 AM — 5 pieces · 2 articles · 3 posts — Mastodon 3, Newswires 1, Bluesky 1Sep 17, 11 AM — quietSep 17, 1 PM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Google News 2Sep 17, 3 PM — quietSep 17, 5 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 17, 7 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 17, 9 PM — quietSep 17, 11 PM — 9 pieces · 7 articles · 2 posts — Newswires 7, Mastodon 1, X 1Sep 18, 1 AM — quietSep 18, 3 AM — quietSep 18, 5 AM — quietSep 18, 7 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 18, 9 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 18, 11 AM — 9 pieces · 6 articles · 3 posts — Google News 4, Mastodon 3, Bluesky 1, +1 moreSep 18, 1 PM — 7 pieces · 2 articles · 5 posts — Mastodon 3, Bluesky 2, Newswires 1, +1 moreSep 18, 3 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 18, 5 PM — quietSep 18, 7 PM — 10 pieces · 4 articles · 6 posts — X 5, Newswires 4, Mastodon 1Sep 18, 9 PM — quietSep 18, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Bluesky 1Sep 19, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 19, 3 AM — quietSep 19, 5 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 19, 7 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Bluesky 1Sep 19, 9 AM — quietSep 19, 11 AM — quietSep 19, 1 PM — quietSep 19, 3 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Sep 19, 5 PM — quietSep 19, 7 PM — quietSep 19, 9 PM — quietSep 19, 11 PM — quietSep 20, 1 AM — quietSep 20, 3 AM — quietSep 20, 5 AM — 5 pieces · 2 articles · 3 posts — Mastodon 4, Newswires 1Sep 20, 7 AM — quietSep 20, 9 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 20, 11 AM — 2 pieces · 2 articles — Newswires 1, Google News 1Sep 20, 1 PM — quietSep 20, 3 PM — quietSep 20, 5 PM — quietSep 20, 7 PM — quietSep 20, 9 PM — quietSep 20, 11 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 21, 1 AM — quietSep 21, 3 AM — 45 pieces · 39 articles · 6 posts — Newswires 39, X 5, Mastodon 1Sep 21, 5 AM — 9 pieces · 6 articles · 3 posts — Google News 4, Mastodon 3, Newswires 1, +1 moreSep 21, 7 AM — 7 pieces · 3 articles · 4 posts — Newswires 3, Mastodon 2, Hacker News 1, +1 moreSep 21, 9 AM — 12 pieces · 6 articles · 6 posts — Newswires 6, Mastodon 3, Bluesky 1, +2 moreSep 21, 11 AM — 12 pieces · 3 articles · 9 posts — Hacker News 3, Mastodon 3, Newswires 3, +2 moreSep 21, 1 PM — 36 pieces · 12 articles · 12 posts · 12 comments — Newswires 11, Hacker News 8, Reddit 6, +4 moreSep 21, 3 PM — 34 pieces · 5 articles · 11 posts · 18 comments — Hacker News 11, Reddit 10, Mastodon 7, +3 moreSep 21, 5 PM — 41 pieces · 24 articles · 12 posts · 5 comments — Newswires 20, Reddit 6, Mastodon 6, +4 moreSep 21, 7 PM — 16 pieces · 10 articles · 6 posts — Newswires 10, X 3, Mastodon 1, +2 moreSep 21, 9 PM — 7 pieces · 2 articles · 4 posts · 1 comment — Hacker News 2, Reddit 2, Newswires 2, +1 moreSep 21, 11 PM — 8 pieces · 4 posts · 4 comments — Reddit 4, Bluesky 2, Mastodon 2Yesterday, 1 AM — 4 pieces · 1 article · 1 post · 2 comments — Reddit 2, Newswires 1, Bluesky 1Yesterday, 3 AM — 5 pieces · 1 article · 2 posts · 2 comments — Bluesky 1, Hacker News 1, Mastodon 1, +2 moreYesterday, 5 AM — 12 pieces · 1 article · 6 posts · 5 comments — Reddit 6, Mastodon 3, Bluesky 2, +1 moreYesterday, 7 AM — 17 pieces · 10 articles · 7 posts — Newswires 6, Bluesky 4, Mastodon 4, +1 moreYesterday, 9 AM — 14 pieces · 5 articles · 9 posts — Google News 3, Bluesky 3, Hacker News 2, +4 moreYesterday, 11 AM — 28 pieces · 12 articles · 13 posts · 3 comments — Newswires 9, Mastodon 7, Reddit 5, +3 moreYesterday, 1 PM — 11 pieces · 3 articles · 8 posts — Bluesky 3, Google News 2, Mastodon 2, +4 moreYesterday, 3 PM — 12 pieces · 6 articles · 6 posts — Newswires 6, Mastodon 4, Bluesky 1, +1 moreYesterday, 5 PM — 17 pieces · 4 articles · 1 video · 9 posts · 3 comments — Mastodon 6, Reddit 5, Newswires 4, +2 moreYesterday, 7 PM — 5 pieces · 2 articles · 3 posts — Mastodon 2, Newswires 2, Bluesky 1Yesterday, 9 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Mastodon 1Yesterday, 11 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Mastodon 2Today, 1 AM — 2 pieces · 1 post · 1 comment — Hacker News 1, Reddit 1Today, 3 AM — 3 pieces · 2 posts · 1 comment — Mastodon 1, Reddit 1, Hacker News 1Today, 5 AM — 7 pieces · 3 articles · 4 posts — Mastodon 5, Newswires 2Today, 7 AM — 8 pieces · 3 articles · 5 posts — Mastodon 3, Newswires 3, Hacker News 1, +1 moreToday, 9 AM — 5 pieces · 5 posts — Mastodon 3, Bluesky 1, Hacker News 1Today, 11 AM — 4 pieces · 3 posts · 1 comment — Mastodon 2, Hacker News 1, Reddit 1Today, 1 PM — 5 pieces · 1 article · 1 video · 2 posts · 1 comment — Mastodon 2, Newswires 1, YouTube 1, +1 moreToday, 3 PM — 4 pieces · 4 articles — Google News 2, Newswires 2Today, 5 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Today, 7 PM — quietToday, 9 PM — quiet 12345–678
Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21yesterdaynow · 11:21 PM ET
  1. 8

    Backlash widens; markets react and a new backdoor flaw surfaces

    WSJ and CNBC reported growing consumer backlash and market ripple effects, including a selloff in Charles Schwab shares tied to AI disruption fears, while a separate report disclosed a hidden Muse setting that could let malware reroute dictation and steal session tokens.

    1. first by Mastodon, 16h ago · also The Hacker News

    • "Once again, a core feature of a major piece of AI technology will actually just be people working in a call center." https://www. 404media.co/meta-tests-muse-ai -agent-calls-that-are-actually-made-by-humans-in-a-call-center/

      evacide@hachyderm.ioMastodon8h ago104▲view on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 15 posts in this stretch
    • mrsdeborahlynn.bsky.social

      arstechnica.com/security/202... Meta says it issued a fix for the Muse zero-day vulnerability that would have let attackers do “whatever” they wanted on a victim’s Mac, highlighting the inherent dangers of AI helpers.

      mrsdeborahlynn.bsky.socialBluesky14h ago13▲view on Bluesky ↗
    • The point was this is the 2nd capex cycle. The 1st not being successful doesn't mean the 2nd won't. N=1 is not a "sigfig sample size" in any statistical sense, that's a personal opinion. Where in anything was there any sensitivity? If pointing out objective facts feels hostile to you, that’s on your end. Furthermore, I didn't even bring up…

      123789dftrr/StockMarket10h agoview on r/StockMarket ↗
    all of them →
  2. 7

    Reuters reveals Muse calls secretly routed to humans

    Reuters reported Meta was testing a 'human concierge' feature in which contractors quietly handled some phone calls placed via Muse, a practice internal posts showed employees worried could leak private information and generate negative press.

    “It's baffling to me why we think this feature is worth the risk. We are one bug away from unnecessary information being leaked to human callers.”
    — Meta employee (internal post)
    1. first by Investing.com News, 1d ago · also Reuters, Channel News Asia

      1 more headline
    • 🦔404 Media reports that Meta's AI agent Muse, which executives promoted last week as able to make phone calls to businesses on your behalf, is routing some of those calls to human beings in call centers. Internal communications show Meta told employees it "added a human agent

      @HedgieMarketsX1d ago424▲view on X ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 22 posts in this stretch
    • carlquintanilla.bsky.social

      “.. It's baffling to me why we think this feature is worth the risk," one employee ⁠wrote in an internal post. "We are one bug away from unnecessary information being leaked to human callers." @reuters.com $META

      carlquintanilla.bsky.socialBluesky1d ago365▲view on Bluesky ↗
    • I am shocked that Meta doesn’t understand consent. Shocked I tell you. https://www. inc.com/jason-aten/metas-new-m use-ai-agent-read-my-private-messages-i-never-asked-it-to/91408202

      petrillic@hachyderm.ioMastodon1d ago13▲view on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  3. 6

    Meta patches the Mac zero-day

    Meta issued a fix for the Muse vulnerability, which it acknowledged would have let attackers do essentially anything on a victim's Mac.

    “would have let attackers do “whatever” they wanted on a victim's Mac…”
    — Meta
    1. 3 outlets first by Gizmodo, 2d ago · also Malwarebytes, Tech Times · read ↗

    2. first by Wired, 14h ago

    2 more claims →
    • Get the most important and interesting news from the global economy delivered to your inbox. https:// qz.com/shopify-meta-muse-ai-ag ent-shop-pay-checkout-092226?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Business News @ business-news-quartz

      quartz@flipboard.comMastodon1d ago1▲view on Mastodon ↗
    1 more of the top 2 · 3 posts in this stretch
    • agentic-cmo.bsky.social

      TechCrunch AI: Meta's Muse Gains Traction Despite Amazon Blacklist and Security Vulnerabilities Link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/21/metas-muse-is-outpacing-chatgpts-early-mobile-launch/ | Context:

      agentic-cmo.bsky.socialBluesky1d agoview on Bluesky ↗
    all of them →
  4. 5

    Researchers disclose a critical Muse zero-day

    Security researchers found a serious zero-day in Muse's Mac app that could let a simple ClickFix attack completely hijack the agent, exploiting its extraordinarily privileged access to a user's system.

    1. first by HN Frontpage, 1d ago · also Ars Technica, Ars OpenForum

    2. first by Unite.AI, 2d ago · also Cyber Security News

      1 more headline
    • amnick.bsky.social

      Zuck's ai assistant “Built from the ground up for privacy and security” is, like expected everything but that..

      amnick.bsky.socialBluesky1d ago2▲view on Bluesky ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 19 posts in this stretch
    • sayzard@mastodon.sayzard.org

      🚨 AI News | TestingCatalog (@testingcatalog) Meta와 Shopify가 연계되어 Muse 에이전트가 Shopify 스토어에서 Shop Pay를 사용할 수 있게 됐습니다. 지원 국가에서 에이전트 기반 구매 흐름을 결제까지 연결하는 통합으로, Facebook·Instagram의 소상공인 판매 채널까지 확장될 경우 커머스 에이전트 생태계에 영향을 줄 수 있습니다. https:// x.com/testingcatalog/status/21 02159389104775633 # meta # shopify # agenticcommerce # payments # aiagents

      sayzard@mastodon.sayzard.orgMastodon1d ago1▲view on Mastodon ↗
    • It may be promoted but not a scam. We are in the early midst of some major feature releases from meta. There’s a reason why the stock has been on fire for a month. And the only negative opinions I’ve found in this post are people who never used, let alone understands, Muse. Also, the post is ignoring the fact that meta now has subscription…

      BackendSpecialistr/StockMarket1d agoview on r/StockMarket ↗
    all of them →
  5. 4

    Meta deepens agentic checkout with Shopify and PayPal

    Even as Amazon shut Muse out, Meta expanded agentic commerce, partnering with Shopify to enable Shop Pay checkout on all Shopify stores and with PayPal for checkout across its merchants.

    “We are excited to announce we are partnering deeply with Muse to enable agentic checkout with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores…”
    — @tobi (Shopify CEO)
    1. 5 outlets first by WSJ, 2d ago · also Quartz, Neowin, WSJ US Business, The Paypers · read ↗

    • We are excited to announce we are partnering deeply with Muse to enable agentic checkout with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores, offering people an easy and delightful way to shop and check out with Muse.

      @tobiX2d ago3.9k▲view on X ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 60 posts in this stretch
    • carlquintanilla.bsky.social

      (Bloomberg) - Amazon.com Inc. has blocked Meta Platforms Inc.’s new artificial intelligence agent from its retail site after the social media company declined a request to remove the bot. @bloomberg.com $AMZN $META

      carlquintanilla.bsky.socialBluesky2d ago303▲view on Bluesky ↗
    • Sure Muse might look pretty solid to some, as it has a true background agent running to handle email, travel bookings, and scheduling is a cool piece of tech. But calling Meta an "AI monetization success" right now completely misreads the actual financials They currently sit on a ~$140B CapEx budget and that sure as hell isn't being at all…

      interwebzdotnetr/StockMarket2d agoview on r/StockMarket ↗
    all of them →
  6. 3

    Amazon blocks Muse from shopping on its site

    Amazon barred Meta's Muse agent from making purchases on amazon.com, citing unauthorized access and privacy concerns, after Meta declined a request to remove the bot.

    1. first by Slashdot, 2d ago · also The Information, MediaPost, SiliconANGLE, NTD, PaymentsJournal, RuntimeWire +17

      27 more headlines
    2. 11 outlets first by Business Insider, 2d ago · also Seeking Alpha, Axios, Bloomberg, Ad Age, The Economic Times, Yahoo Finance +4 · read ↗

    5 more claims →
    • SuffolkLITLab@esq.social

      TL;DR: Amazon has blocked Meta's Muse AI agent from making purchases on its platform, citing violations of its Conditions of Use. Users received alerts that continued access by the unauthorized AI agent is prohibited. https://www. theverge.com/tech/998078/amazo n-blocks-meta-muse-ai-agent-shopping # law # tech # legaltech ⚖️ 🤖 # autosum

      SuffolkLITLab@esq.socialMastodon2d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
    • The knife fight already took place; it ended a year ago, when I wrote the first entry in my Agentic commerce is a mirage series. Amazon began blocking agents last July; it's currently *suing* Perplexity over autonomous shopping with Comet. Amazon won't capitulate; it doesn't have to. Alexa for Sho...

      @eric_seufertX2d agoview on X ↗
    • falsemirror@masto.nyc

      “I do see [Muse] as a continued trajectory of [Meta's] main business model of controlling what people see, putting ads in front of them, and collecting more data,” https://www. wired.com/story/metas-muse-is- better-at-surveilling-than-helping-me/ # pressquote

      falsemirror@masto.nycMastodon2d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  7. 2

    Reviewers flag Muse's surveillance and consent problems

    Early reviews said Muse nudges users to share bank, email and passport details and continues Meta's pattern of opting users into data collection for AI training; a follow-up review said it read private messages the user never asked it to.

    1. first by Daring Fireball, 1d ago

    • dsanford0.bsky.social

      I will never let any Zuckerberg product access or control my computers. I will never forget Cambridge Analytica, or the more recent revelation that Facebook makes a lot of money off fraud, so they've decided not to stop it.

      dsanford0.bsky.socialBluesky4d ago1▲view on Bluesky ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
    • sipirtu@mastodon.social

      Meta's Muse app continues Meta's trend of opting users into data collection for AI training and is better at surveilling than helping me. Source: WIRED https://www. wired.com/story/metas-muse-is- better-at-surveilling-than-helping-me/ # AI # Meta

      sipirtu@mastodon.socialMastodon3d ago1▲view on Mastodon ↗
    • AAKL@infosec.exchange

      What a surprise! After the Cambridge Analytica scandal, various subsequent scandals, and the quick disintegration of the Metaverse, Meta's nosy devices give it a dream world (of surveillance and data collection.) Wired: Meta’s Muse Is Better at Surveilling Than Helping Me https://www. wired.com/story/metas-muse-is-…

      AAKL@infosec.exchangeMastodon3d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    all of them →
  8. 1 day quiet
  9. 1

    Meta launches Muse AI agent on Mac

    Meta rolled out its Muse AI assistant to Mac, giving it the ability to work with a user's files and apps and take actions on their behalf.

    1. 2 outlets first by Retail Dive, 1d ago · also Daring Fireball · read ↗

    2. 2 outlets first by The Mac Observer, 5d ago · also 9to5Mac · read ↗

    7 more claims →
    • ottoto2017@prattohome.com

      「MetaのMuseがMacに登場、AIがコンピュータ上でアクションを実行可能に 」: # TechClunch 「Meta社の新しいAIアシスタントアプリ「Muse」が Macで 利用可能になりました。 Macでは、Museはファイル、メッセージ、カレンダー、メモ、メールなど、それぞれのネイティブアプリケーション内で操作できます。 この 新しいアプリは 、今月初めにモバイルとウェブでリリースされ、すぐに 米国のApp Storeランキングでトップ に躍り出たMuseに続くものです。 他のプラットフォームと同様に、MuseがMac上でアクセスできる情報には、オプトイン方式で制御できます。さらに、アプリは機密性の高い操作を実行する前に必ずユーザーの承認を求めるとMetaは述べています。 」…

      ottoto2017@prattohome.comMastodon4d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    2 more of the top 3 · 17 posts in this stretch
    • meta muse is almost #1 in the app store because it's saving you $1000s, making you $1000s and automating away all the laborious tasks like filling out documents, filing records, managing support tickets, researching insurance... meta realized the killer ai product is just one that gets shit done wi...

      @cryptopunk7213X7d agoview on X ↗
    • agentic-cmo.bsky.social

      TechCrunch AI: Agentic AI Agents Go Mainstream: From Calls to Smart Home Control Link: https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/17/rival-ai-agents-instinct-and-metas-muse-both-add-the-ability-to-make-calls/ | Context:

      agentic-cmo.bsky.socialBluesky6d agoview on Bluesky ↗
    all of them →

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. first by Seeking Alpha, 5d ago · also Business Insider, The Mac Observer, TipRanks Financial, Proactive

    6 more headlines
  2. first by The Globe and Mail, 1d ago · also Investing.com News, Reuters, Channel News Asia

    1 more headline
  3. first by Yahoo, 4d ago · also Yahoo Finance, 24/7 Wall St., Pluang

    2 more headlines
  4. first by Bloomberg Tech, 2d ago · also Quartz, PetaPixel

    2 more headlines
  5. first by Investor's Business Daily, 6d ago · also Barron's, Barron's Online

    1 more headline
  6. first by MarketWatch, 1d ago · also Platformer

    1 more headline
  7. first by CNBC, 1d ago · also WSJ Markets

    1 more headline
  8. first by Daring Fireball, 1d ago · also 9to5Mac

  9. first by Mastodon, 1d ago · also 404 Media

  10. first by Investing.com India, 1d ago · also Investing.com Canada

and 31 smaller pieces

What people are saying 15 voices from 5 sites · best of 146 · verbatim

Still unanswered
  • Does anyone have any meaningful use cases that have actually improved your life in some measurable way?