Meta stock jumped approximately 6% on Wednesday to reach its best level in two months, driven by positive analyst sentiment around the company's AI initiatives. According to TD Cowen, the firm maintains a Buy rating and $750 price target on Meta shares, representing a near 22% upside from Tuesday's closing price. The analysts recognize Meta Muse AI as a 'notable' revenue stream in the future, though they are not modeling near-term revenue from the platform. Despite the positive analyst reaction, Meta's shares have declined 0.8% year-to-date, reflecting ongoing investor concerns about the company's aggressive capital expenditure plans.
Social media giant Meta has acquired Stockholm-based AI startup Stilla.ai to enhance the development of Meta Business Agent, which enables transactions on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. According to a report by Axios, the deal represents Meta's strategic push to integrate AI technology across its messaging ecosystem. Founded in 2024, Stilla is expected to bring its team and technology to Meta once the acquisition is finalized. The startup had previously raised $5 million earlier this year upon emerging from stealth mode. The acquisition is structured to accelerate the growth of the Meta Business Agent initiative, enhancing automated commerce and transaction handling across Meta's messaging platforms.
Meta officially launched Muse on Tuesday, an autonomous personal AI assistant powered by the Muse Spark 1.3 foundation model. Designed by Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) and led by former Stripe CTO David Singleton, the tool represents a shift from traditional conversational chatbots to active digital agents that complete complex, multi-step real-world tasks. Operating continuously via individual cloud-hosted virtual computers, Muse handles everyday administrative responsibilities including scheduling appointments, buying products, reserving tickets, and filling out electronic forms. The launch drew strong initial backing from major technology figures, with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke praising the agent's multi-app capabilities and Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan commending the underlying technology following preliminary testing.
The acquisitions align with Meta's decade-long effort to create a commerce engine that connects millions of small businesses to its 1 billion-plus messaging app users. As reported by Axios, a significant portion of this initiative now depends on Meta's potential to make its AI chatbots useful to merchants who require support to convert customer conversations into purchases. The deal highlights Meta's commitment to transforming its messaging platforms into comprehensive commerce and transactional tools, with the AI technology serving as a critical component of this commercial foundation. Meta Muse represents a significant step forward in this strategy, offering advanced personal automation capabilities beyond traditional conversational AI.
