Meta is preparing to launch Muse, its personal AI agent, in the UK in the coming weeks, as reported by The Times. The launch is expected to come with partnerships with several UK retailers, letting Muse buy products directly on their sites.

UK sellers have so far watched agentic shopping develop in the US. Within weeks their own customers could be asking an agent to find and buy products for them. The agent will choose which shop to buy from and how to pay.

What is Muse?

Muse launched in the US on 8th September and reached Canada ten days later. Since then it has gone live in Japan, Singapore and Mexico. The app had nearly 10.9 million downloads in its first 40 days, according to Sensor Tower, 10.2 million of them in the US.

UK users already have Meta AI, the chat assistant inside WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. Muse can act on a user’s behalf. Users connect it to their email, calendar, payment methods and other apps, and it carries out tasks for them, from booking travel to paying bills. Anything irreversible, purchases included, needs the user’s approval first.

How does Meta make money from it?

Shopping has become its main use. A quarter of Muse’s North American users say they use it to shop online, and Meta’s revenue model depends on that. Muse is free for most users, with a paid subscription for heavier use. Meta takes a fee on the transactions it handles, but hasn’t said how big that fee is or who pays it.

How does Muse buy from retailers?

When a shopper asks for a product, Muse finds options and then checks out using whatever payment route the merchant supports.

Shopify merchants have the most direct route. Muse pulls product data from Shopify Catalog and checks out with Shop Pay through Shopify’s Universal Commerce Protocol. Shopify stores were enrolled in the Meta channel by default when Muse launched, with product sharing and direct checkout both switched on under Sales channels > Agentic. If a merchant hasn’t changed those settings, its products are already open to the agent.

Outside Shopify, there are other routes in. PayPal has partnered with Meta so Muse can check out across PayPal’s merchant network. At other stores it uses Link by Stripe, which creates a single-use virtual card for each purchase, or works through the retailer’s own checkout in a browser. In the US, Muse can already shop at partners including Walmart, Best Buy, Sephora and Wayfair.

Which retailers have blocked it?

Some retailers have kept it out. Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on Amazon.com on 20th September, less than two weeks after launch. Amazon said Meta never asked permission, that the agent doesn’t identify itself while browsing, and that its access breached Amazon’s Conditions of Use. Shopify, by contrast, built Muse into its checkout.

What does it mean for UK Shopify sellers?

UK Shopify sellers will be among the first to deal with this, though some details aren’t settled yet. Shopify currently shows Meta direct checkout only to customers in the US, Canada and Mexico. It hasn’t said whether UK shoppers will be added when Muse launches here.

Even where direct checkout is available, it doesn’t cover every product. Subscriptions, bundles, customisable products and B2B-only products aren’t supported. Tracking is also different. Google Analytics and custom pixels don’t fire in Meta’s checkout. Shopify sends server-to-server events when checkout starts and completes instead, and orders appear in the admin attributed to the Meta channel.

Shopify doesn’t charge an extra selling fee for Meta direct checkout on top of standard payment processing. The merchant remains merchant of record and handles fulfilment, returns and customer service. To have buyers finish on their own site, sellers can switch off direct checkout under Sales channels > Agentic > Meta. Their products stay discoverable, but shoppers are sent to the store’s own checkout. Switching off Catalog access entirely can take up to seven days to take effect.

What about WooCommerce and custom-built stores?

Merchants on WooCommerce or custom builds don’t get a catalogue integration. Muse reaches their stores through PayPal, Stripe Link or the store’s own checkout page.

How are UK banks responding?

Payments could also be a sticking point. HSBC, Nationwide, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds have moved to block or restrict AI agents from accessing customer accounts, as reported by The Telegraph. The banks are acting pre-emptively, and none has reported agents accessing UK accounts so far.

What have UK regulators said?

Regulators have also been preparing. On 30th October, the CMA, FCA, ICO and Ofcom published a joint statement on personal AI agents through the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum. It said existing consumer, competition and data protection law already applies to agents, and that a firm stays responsible for what an agent it deploys does, however autonomous the agent is.

The ICO’s call for evidence on the data protection risks of agentic AI opened on 8th October and closes on 20th November. The CMA has also published guidance on how consumer law applies to businesses using AI agents.

Meta hasn’t named its UK retail partners or confirmed a launch date.