Meta Muse vs. Elon Musk’s X: The Battle for the ‘Everything App’

Elon Musk has spent years trying to turn xAI ‘s social media platform X, owned by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. " Now Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META ) may be chasing the same destination from a completely different starting point. Rather than turning a social network into a financial and commerce hub, Meta is making Muse an AI agent that can increasingly shop, make purchases and potentially handle payments through a first-party Meta Pay wallet.

The emerging battle is less about which app has more features and more about who becomes the interface consumers use to get things done — and eventually, to spend money. Muse Moves Into Payments Meta launched Muse on Sept. 8 as a personal AI agent designed to perform tasks rather than simply answer questions. It can send emails, book travel, fill out forms, negotiate on a user’s behalf and continue working after the user closes the app.

Shopping is already part of that strategy. S. users to connect their Link accounts and authorize the agent to make purchases. Link works across more than 1 million businesses that accept it, while a single-use virtual card can be generated for other merchants.

Meta also said Shop Pay is coming. Now there is another piece. App researcher Jane Manchun Wong says Meta is working on Meta Pay for Muse, describing it as a first-party wallet for the AI agent. That would give Meta a potentially important piece of the transaction layer itself, rather than relying entirely on third-party payment infrastructure.

The distinction matters. Muse would not just tell users what to buy. It could increasingly become the place where they discover, decide and pay. Read Also: EXCLUSIVE: Meta's AI Rally Needs More Than Muse Downloads Musk Started With Money Musk’s X is taking the opposite route.

Instead of starting with an AI agent and adding commerce, X is turning an existing social network into a financial platform. S. with peer-to-peer payments, a Visa debit card, direct deposit, bill payments and the ability to earn yield and cashback. Read Also: Elon Musk's X Money Is Bigger Than PayPal That makes the contrast unusually clean.

X is adding money to the social network. Meta is adding agency to the AI assistant. Both approaches aim at the same consumer behavior: reducing the number of reasons people need to leave the platform. For Meta, the opportunity could be especially large because Muse already sits inside an ecosystem spanning Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

8 million downloads in its first 12 days, while Meta’s stock gained more than 20% after the launch. Amazon Shows the Catch But building an "everything app" is easier when everyone else agrees to participate. com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) has already blocked Muse from making purchases on its platform, citing concerns around unauthorized activity, privacy and security.

Shopify Inc. (NASDAQ: SHOP ), meanwhile, is taking the opposite approach. It is integrating Muse with Shop Pay, allowing the AI agent to complete purchases across Shopify merchants, reported WSJ. PayPal Holdings, Inc.

(NASDAQ: PYPL ) has also announced plans to integrate Muse for shopping and checkout. That creates the central challenge for Meta’s strategy. Muse can become the consumer’s preferred interface, but it still needs retailers, payment providers and other services to let the agent operate on their turf. Why It Matters Musk’s X and Meta’s Muse are pursuing the "everything app" from opposite directions.

X is building a financial layer into a social network, while Meta is turning an AI agent into a potential gateway for commerce and payments. If Meta Pay eventually becomes a native wallet for Muse, Meta won’t just have an AI that can answer what users want — it could have an AI that helps them do it, buy it and pay for it. Read Also: Meta vs. Amazon: The Battle to Own E-Commerce’s 'Invisible Layer' Photo courtesy: Shutterstock