The Agents Revolt

Mark Zuckerberg has tried to disrupt the financial sector before. In 2019, he unveiled plans for a new currency, Libra. “What we’re trying to do,” he explained, “[is] rethink what a modern infrastructure for the financial system would be if you started it today rather than fifty years ago on a lot of outdated systems.” The industry didn’t respond kindly, and he backed down. Today, he comes again. This month, his company Meta launched Muse – “a secure, private personal AI agent that proactively helps with people’s goals and suggests ideas.” We’ve discussed AI agents before – notably in last November’s Agentic Friday about their spread through online shopping channels – but Muse has loftier ambitions. “It can handle tasks, like sending an email or booking travel,” Meta says, “and it can take on big audacious goals.” Already, people seem to like it. The app recorded 2.8 million downloads within two weeks of its launch, propelling it to number one on both Apple’s US App Store and Google Play, a faster start than ChatGPT managed. “The Muse reception has honestly been beyond our biggest dreams,” posted its creator Alexandr Wang. I haven’t tried it yet – Muse is currently only available in the US and Canada – but I have been trialling Instinct, a similar app launched by startup Spear Street Technology, whose valuation has increased fourfold in less than a month. Instinct sits inside WhatsApp, which it uses as its interface, while a virtual desktop behind the scenes navigates websites and accesses email and calendar on your behalf. Having signed up, the first thing I did was ask it to find me cheaper car insurance. I won’t go into the details, but I’ve struggled to obtain good value coverage since my car was stolen a couple of years ago. It didn’t help that I carelessly replaced it with a model even more vulnerable to theft. My premium was already high but at the last renewal it jumped 83%. Instinct analysed my current policy, approached carriers for alternative quotes and offered to automate a switch to a cheaper policy, all while I slept. It seems I am not alone. One driver posted that Muse saved him $3,500 a year on auto insurance by gathering quotes and processing a switch from Liberty Mutual to Progressive on his behalf. Aggregator portals could have done the job, but the friction of an AI assistant was lower and the new policy matched the terms of his old one. Angela Strange, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, reckons this is a big deal: “This is what Insurance companies (and banks) should be TERRIFIED about… Inertia and information asymmetry will no longer be enough to keep customers.” Muse promises to take on big audacious goals. Could one of those be to neutralise the inertia on which much of the finance industry’s margin depends? To find out which firms are most exposed, and which stand to gain, read on.