Threads

2026-10-20

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

Meta’s Muse app reaches 10 million U.S. downloads in 40 days

Sensor Tower reports Meta’s AI companion Muse amassed about 10.9 million downloads since its September debut, including roughly 10.2 million in the U.S., becoming one of only a dozen apps to hit 10M U.S. downloads within its first 40 days. Meta has heavily promoted Muse across its ecosystem and via advertising (39% of October ad spend), and Sensor Tower data shows Muse has stronger short-term retention than rivals like ChatGPT, Claude and Grok and reached 2.5 million daily active users on October 16.

7.0

2026-10-15

COMPANIES · 2 SOURCES · The Verge AI · WIRED AI

Privacy concerns as Meta's Muse AI agent prompts broad data sharing

Since its launch last month, Meta's Muse has been downloaded millions of times and reached No. 1 on the App Store; its onboarding and UI encourage users to grant access to contacts, messages, banking details and other sensitive information that can implicate people beyond the account holder. Security and privacy experts (Signal Foundation, EFF) say Muse’s design and dark patterns risk nonconsensual exposure of third-party data, while Meta says access is opt-in and attributes incidents to misconfigured permissions.

7.0

2026-10-13

COMPANIES · 2 SOURCES · The Verge AI · TechCrunch AI

Meta brings 'Your Algorithm' to Facebook and says it will use LLMs more for ranking

Meta is rolling out its Instagram-originated "Your Algorithm" feature on Facebook, letting users add and manage topics they want to see via "interested"/"not interested" controls that update recommendations in real time. Meta also says it is using large language models (LLMs) more in ranking systems, enabling natural-language interaction with the algorithm and in-session adaptation of recommendations; the company frames the change as "AI-powered" and notes follow-up questions may be asked to refine preferences.

7.0

2026-10-08

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · WIRED AI

Designer Jesscia Hische created Meta’s Muse logo and faced harsh online backlash

Lettering artist Jesscia Hische took a freelance brief to refine Meta’s M logomark and design the Muse logotype, completing a two-day sprint and charging about $12,500. After she announced the work, she was met with intense criticism on Threads from other designers and activists upset about Meta and AI; Hische said financial pressures and supporting staff motivated her choice and noted Meta hired an independent artist rather than using generative AI.

4.0

2026-09-23

COMPANIES · 1 SOURCE · TechCrunch AI

YouTube announces Gemini-powered "custom feeds" for user-defined recommendation streams

YouTube introduced "custom feeds," a prompt-based feature that uses Google’s Gemini AI to build and pin user-described recommendation feeds to the top of the home page; support for multiple feeds will roll out on web and mobile starting next month. The feature does not replace YouTube’s main feed but lets users specify what to include, exclude, or prioritize when curating personalized streams.

7.0