Meta Platforms has made its Muse AI agent free for a large number of tokens, a distribution strategy that contrasts with Alphabet’s subscription-based approach to Spark. Muse had more than 5 million estimated downloads three weeks after launch, while Meta’s family of apps reached 3.60 billion daily active people in Q2 2026. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company plans to monetize the agent through small transaction fees, and daily usage rose 60% after the assistant was rebuilt around Muse models. Alphabet’s Gemini 4 Argon performed strongly in coding and cyber tests, but Alphabet shares fell 1.43% on Oct. 1 after its launch. JPMorgan warned that agents able to complete shopping and travel transactions could bypass Google Search, putting $63.27 billion of search and other revenue at risk in Q2. Investors are watching Spark’s expected public launch, whether Muse transaction fees appear in Meta’s Q3 results, and whether search queries continue growing as agents book trips.