Meta Launches Muse in Japan

Meta launched its Muse AI assistant in Japan on October 23. The service entered its first overseas market about a month after debuting in North America in September. Japanese users can access Muse through iOS and Android apps and the website.

Muse is a personal AI agent that can draft and send emails, manage schedules, book travel and shop on users’ behalf, in addition to answering questions. For the Japan launch, Meta is also pursuing integrations with secondhand marketplace Mercari, personal finance service Money Forward ME and ticketing service Ticket Pia.

No date has been set for Muse’s launch in South Korea. Naver plans to pilot payment functionality for selected product categories in its shopping AI agent this year. Naver Ventures, the company’s U.S. investment arm, joined a Series B investment in U.S. AI assistant startup Instinct in late August; the investment amount was not disclosed. A Naver representative said the investment is currently aimed at backing a promising startup, and that any expansion into strategic cooperation has not been decided.

Naver said it will consider whether to allow external AI agents such as Muse to access its services in line with their entry into South Korea. A company representative said Naver would carefully review access if such agents make a full-scale entry into the country. Naver is proceeding with a pilot of payment features for its own shopping agent while investing in overseas AI companies. Its policy on access by Meta’s service remains undecided following Muse’s Japan launch.

Meta launched its Muse AI assistant in Japan on October 23. The service entered its first overseas market about a month after debuting in North America in September. Japanese users can access Muse through iOS and Android apps and the website.

Muse is a personal AI agent that can draft and send emails, manage schedules, book travel and shop on users’ behalf, in addition to answering questions. For the Japan launch, Meta is also pursuing integrations with secondhand marketplace Mercari, personal finance service Money Forward ME and ticketing service Ticket Pia.

No date has been set for Muse’s launch in South Korea. Naver plans to pilot payment functionality for selected product categories in its shopping AI agent this year. Naver Ventures, the company’s U.S. investment arm, joined a Series B investment in U.S. AI assistant startup Instinct in late August; the investment amount was not disclosed. A Naver representative said the investment is currently aimed at backing a promising startup, and that any expansion into strategic cooperation has not been decided.

Naver said it will consider whether to allow external AI agents such as Muse to access its services in line with their entry into South Korea. A company representative said Naver would carefully review access if such agents make a full-scale entry into the country. Naver is proceeding with a pilot of payment features for its own shopping agent while investing in overseas AI companies. Its policy on access by Meta’s service remains undecided following Muse’s Japan launch.