Meta shares rise about 4% after launch of Muse Wonder AI models
Key Facts
Meta shares rose about 4% in afternoon trading on October 12, 2026, after the company launched its "Muse Wonder" and "Muse Wonder Full" artificial intelligence models, according to Reuters. The company described the models as its most capable at the time of the announcement, expanding its suite of tools in the field. Reuters placed the launch within Meta's efforts to compete more aggressively with OpenAI and Anthropic in the AI market. The announcement followed the launch of the "Muse" personal agent app, which attracted millions of downloads in its initial period of availability, according to data cited by the news agency. The rollout included access through a company interface and a coding tool, with access to the "Full" version reserved for "Muse Code" subscribers.
Meta said in its research presentation that "Muse Wonder" was available at launch through the Meta models interface, one of the two access channels the company announced for the model. The other channel is the "Muse Code" tool, through which the company also made "Muse Wonder Full" available to subscribers. The models' development relates to the agent's ability to retain user-related information and work across conversations, according to Meta's description of the new features. The company said the "active memory" feature allows it to "retain important context about you across conversations", enabling it to retrieve details relevant to the task. The capabilities Meta presented therefore include retaining context between conversations, alongside using information related to what the user is trying to accomplish, according to the research presentation.
Meta also introduced an "active focus" feature, saying it was designed to keep working towards difficult goals while adapting to new information that emerges during a task. Its operation includes "trying alternative approaches and overcoming obstacles", according to the company, as the agent continues pursuing its goal. Meta added that the two models were trained at the "Prometheus" data centre, which the company describes as operating at gigawatt scale. The announcement thus links the models' new capabilities to the training infrastructure the company used to produce them as part of its AI expansion. Mark Zuckerberg had said in the quarterly earnings statement that "AI is already accelerating our core business", offering the company's assessment of the technology's role in its operations.
The models' launch followed early uptake of the "Muse" app, which recorded about 2.8 million downloads within two weeks of its launch, according to Sensor Tower data cited by Reuters on September 23, 2026. In the market, Meta shares had risen about 13% during the week up to the time of that report, in a wave of optimism ahead of the unveiling of "Wonder". When introducing the agent, Meta said users choose which apps they allow it to connect to, according to Reuters' account of the company's comments. It added that users can revoke that access at any time, leaving permission to connect to apps subject to their choice. These controls were part of the introduction of "Muse" as an agent that connects to other apps, before the announcement of the newer models to be integrated into its experiences.
Against the financial backdrop to this expansion, Meta's revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was about $60.80 billion, according to the quarterly report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That represented an increase of 28% compared with the second quarter of 2025, according to the comparison the company provided in the report. Total costs and expenses, meanwhile, were $42.03 billion in the second quarter, according to the earnings statement filed with the SEC. That total rose 55% year on year, outpacing revenue growth over the same period. The faster expense growth coincided with Meta expanding its investment in AI infrastructure and raising the lower end of its expected capital spending range for the year, according to Reuters' coverage of the quarterly results.
Looking ahead, Meta had forecast third-quarter 2026 revenue of between $61 billion and $64 billion in guidance issued on July 29, according to Investing's coverage of the results. In its update on capital spending for 2026, the company forecast a range of between $130 billion and $145 billion, according to Reuters. The previous range was between $125 billion and $145 billion, meaning the lower end was raised while the upper end remained unchanged. On products, Meta said integration of "Muse Wonder" into "Muse" agent experiences would begin with paid subscribers. This adds a stage to the model's rollout within the agent, following its availability at the announcement through the models interface and coding tool, according to the availability plan the company presented.