Meta Platforms shares and U.S. stock futures rose as early demand for Muse, an AI agent that performs authorized multistep tasks, strengthened investor confidence in a consumer AI business beyond advertising. The stock gained more than 11% Monday, its strongest one-day advance since April 2025, and had risen more than 20% since Muse launched Sept. 8, adding more than $200 billion in market value. Sensor Tower data cited by Bank of America showed about 2.5 million U.S. downloads and roughly 557,000 daily active users by Sept. 19. Other estimates included 1.43 million iOS downloads in the first 12 days and 2.8 million downloads across iOS and Android. Analysts see potential for significant subscription revenue, although Bank of America said Muse-related subscription, advertising and commerce revenue may not become financially meaningful before 2028. Muse can manage emails, arrange travel and complete purchases after user confirmation. Shopify has enabled browsing and Shop Pay transactions, while Amazon blocked Muse from transacting on Amazon.com, citing authorization, data-collection and payment-processing concerns. Partnerships with PayPal and Plaid are expanding Muse’s financial-planning and payments reach, but the product has also pressured financial-services and travel stocks as investors assess possible disruption. Markets additionally focused on U.S.-China talks, Middle East diplomacy, oil below $100 a barrel and preliminary September U.S. business-activity data. By 02:57 ET on Wednesday, Dow futures had risen 41 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures 7 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures 27 points, or 0.1%.