Google Search’s $250 Billion Business Faces a New AI Threat: Why Gene Munster Thinks Meta’s Muse May Be More Dangerous Than ChatGPT

Deepwater Asset Management’s Gene Munster says Meta Platforms Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:META) Muse personal AI agent poses a greater threat to Alphabet Inc.-owned (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google Search than OpenAI’s ChatGPT because it can complete transactions that underpin Google’s $250 billion search advertising business.

Meta’s Muse Threatens Google’s Search Advertising Business

"Personal AI is a bigger threat to Google than ChatGPT ever was," Munster wrote Wednesday on X. "ChatGPT mostly answered questions Google wasn’t monetizing anyway. Assistants transact. Google built a $250B search business on routing those transactions."

Personal AI is a bigger threat to Google than ChatGPT ever was.

Surprisingly, shares of $GOOG are up 7% since Muse launched, versus a 3% gain for the Nasdaq.

ChatGPT mostly answered questions Google wasn't monetizing anyway. Assistants transact. Google built a $250B search… pic.twitter.com/7VuDyppMvE

— Gene Munster (@munster_gene) October 14, 2026

Meta launched Muse on Sept. 8, enabling users to shop, book travel, send emails and process payments. Its subsequent partnerships with Walmart, Sephora and Best Buy further expanded its shopping capabilities, potentially allowing consumers to bypass traditional commercial searches.

Within a month of its launch, Muse surpassed 6.6 million downloads and reached 1.8 million daily users, Reuters reported. Citigroup’s over $27 billion annual revenue forecast for 2030 includes approximately $23 billion from transactions, highlighting the commercial opportunity.

Google’s Search Revenue Highlights Stakes For Investors

Alphabet reported $63.3 billion in quarterly Google Search and other advertising revenue for Q2 2026, up 17% year-over-year. That translates into a roughly $253 billion annualized pace, compared with $224.5 billion for 2025.

"Surprisingly, shares of $GOOG are up 7% since Muse launched, versus a 3% gain for the Nasdaq," Munster wrote, suggesting investors remain relatively unfazed by the competitive threat.

Google Counters Muse With Gemini Task Feature

Google, which previously developed its own autonomous AI agent, recently integrated Spark into Gemini as Task. The feature connects with more than 40 applications, including OpenTable, Instacart and Shopify, allowing users to complete bookings and purchases.

In May, during its annual developers conference, Google said AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users, while AI Overviews reaches more than 2.5 billion, demonstrating the scale of its existing AI search ecosystem.

Munster, however, questioned Google’s ability to replicate that success, writing, "The question is: can Google do with Task what it did with AI Overviews and AI Mode by successfully redirecting Search traffic to its own AI features?"

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