AI Showdown: Meta's Muse Leaves ChatGPT in the Dust on Mobile

Meta's latest artificial intelligence application, Muse, is showing strong indicators of becoming the social giant's next significant success, according to recent market intelligence data. Estimates released by Apptopia suggest that Muse's mobile app achieved more downloads in the U.S. and Canada during its initial 12 days on the market than ChatGPT did within the same timeframe after its debut. Furthermore, Muse has reportedly garnered a higher number of daily active users than ChatGPT had at a comparable point in its launch cycle.

An exact comparison between these two AI applications was initially challenging due to their distinct launch strategies. ChatGPT was rolled out globally but exclusively on iOS, while Muse launched on both Apple's App Store and Google Play, albeit only in the U.S. and Canada. To facilitate a more direct 'apples-to-apples' comparison, Apptopia focused its analysis on iOS data for both apps within the U.S. and Canada markets during their respective first 12 days. In this specific subset, Muse recorded an impressive 1.8 million downloads, surpassing ChatGPT's 1.3 million.

Globally, Muse has accumulated a total of 2.8 million installs in its first 12 days. Its growth trajectory remains robust, having ascended from its initial position as the No. 2 overall app on the U.S. App Store immediately after launch to now claiming the No. 1 spot, outperforming ChatGPT. These figures are corroborated by another analytics firm, Appfigures, which had previously noted Muse crossing the 1 million download mark.

In terms of user engagement, Apptopia's data also indicates that Muse's U.S. daily active users (DAUs) currently exceed those of ChatGPT at the equivalent post-launch period. When comparing U.S. mobile app DAUs, Muse registers 642,000 users, significantly higher than ChatGPT's 231,000 at the time. Even when the comparison is narrowed to iOS alone, accommodating for ChatGPT's initial iOS-only launch, Muse still leads with 359,000 iOS daily active users, surpassing ChatGPT's figures from that timeframe.

While Apptopia's data comprises third-party estimates and does not reflect Meta's internal figures, these 'ballpark' numbers strongly suggest Muse's potential to become a top-tier application for Meta. Meta has a proven track record of leveraging cross-promotion strategies, as evidenced by the successful launch of Instagram's Threads, which now boasts over 500 million users through extensive marketing and integration with platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Muse is anticipated to benefit from a similar strategic push, given its compatibility and integration capabilities with Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Although Apptopia lacks direct insight into Meta's specific cross-promotion tactics or advertising efforts, its data reveals a significant overlap in user bases: over 95% of Muse users are also Facebook users, and 63% are Instagram users. Meta has yet to publicly release its own official figures regarding Muse's early adoption rates.