Meta's Muse Is Free. Here's How It Makes Money.

Ads are awesome. Ignorance is expensive. And the American dream is alive on the wild web.

Today, Meta's Muse hit 5 million downloads faster than ChatGPT, Etsy's "handmade" shelves are filling up with AI art, and Litter-Robot is selling a $699 box on TikTok Shop without discounting it. Chris Orzechowski of Orzy Media is our guest host today, and IQBAR's Jacob Honig, AmpliSell's Josh Rawe, and Foxwell Digital's Andrew Foxwell join us live. Here's what we're ridistrapping into at noon.

✶ PLATFORM WARS

Meta's Muse app passed 5 million downloads in 22 days, and it's only available in the US and Canada. ChatGPT took 56 days to get there, Grok took 103, and Claude took 492, according to Sensor Tower estimates (Shopifreaks).

Meta's own numbers say more than 3 million people send Muse at least one prompt a week. Zuckerberg says the app stays free, and Meta will make money by taking a small fee on transactions completed inside it (Shopifreaks).

✶ PRODUCTS & PLAYBOOKS

Olivia Moore checked the first eight listings in Etsy's Art & Collectibles category, where most items are labeled "handmade." Six came back as 100% AI, according to the detection tool Pangram. Her read: "Feels like we're in for a reckoning on AI-generated imagery misrepresenting real items" (Olivia Moore on X). Try a search like personalized cups and see for yourself.

✶ ACQUISITION

Whisker is selling its $699 Litter-Robot on TikTok Shop while holding firm on price. The self-cleaning cycle is what the company calls a "thumb stopper," a demo that makes people stop scrolling to watch it work. The TikTok sales are also creating a halo effect for the rest of the brand (Modern Retail, Whisker).

✶ ACQUISITION

McDonald's UK opened a free pop-up where customers watched forequarter and flank cuts get ground in front of them and could take home a patty they made. Ranchers were on hand to answer questions. The message: "100% beef, with only salt and pepper added as it comes off the grill" (McFranchisee on X).

OWNER, ORZY MEDIA

Chris is riding shotgun as today's guest host. He founded Orzy Media, an email, SMS, and direct mail agency for DTC brands, and has spent 13 years helping brands turn their email lists into a top revenue channel (Orzy Media).

ECOMMERCE SENIOR MANAGER, IQBAR

Before going in-house, Jacob worked at Momentum Commerce and PMG, running retail operations for $100M+ a year in marketplace revenue across Amazon, Walmart, and Instacart. IQBAR was one of the brands he supported (LinkedIn).

CO-FOUNDER, AMPLISELL

Josh is a former options trader at PEAK6. He started selling on Amazon himself, then co-founded AmpliSell, a Houston agency for Amazon and TikTok Shop, in 2017. The agency says it has added $130M+ in revenue for clients (AmpliSell).

CO-FOUNDER, FOXWELL DIGITAL

Andrew stops by to recap the Foxwell Digital meetup: what people talked about in the networking and tactical sessions, what clicked, and what operators are thinking about going into Q4.

Follow the guests: Jacob Honig on LinkedIn ✶ Josh Rawe on LinkedIn

Bryan Johnson reviewed Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke's data from a 2.5-hour car race. His heart rate peaked at 171 bpm, and he lost 4.6% of his body mass in sweat. He still finished within 0.51% of the fastest Bronze driver (Bryan Johnson on X).

"TikTok girl selling ad space on her wall to pay for tuition, not a bad kid." The post has 3.3M views (Leo on X).

Their first collaboration included a $79.95 Birdseye Sweater, a $59.95 Boat and Tote, and a $24.95 Coffee Tote, sold while supplies lasted (Dunkin').

Shift Robotics' Moonwalkers Dusk strap over your shoes and let you walk up to 7 mph. The AI adapts to your stride in about 10 steps. They cost $1,199 (Ritwik Pavan on X).

Lukas Pakter announced both platforms are coming to Trybe on Monday, which is today (Lukas Pakter on X).

His new video was his most-viewed ever in its first 24 hours, and it drew 10,000+ comments, calling it his best. He also says viewers watched an average of more than 20 minutes each. (MrBeast on X).

Tom moved his company's accounting to AI in July. It now handles bookkeeping, payroll, tax, year-end, and cash flow. He checks the work and submits it himself and calls the savings "noticeable." (Tom Brown on X).

Morning Brew acquired Express Checkout, the creator-led CPG and ecommerce newsletter Nate Rosen started almost four years ago. Rosen and co-founder Jenna Movsowitz are joining Morning Brew full-time. Morning Brew is owned by Axel Springer. It was an all-cash deal, and terms weren't disclosed. "We're so excited to join the Morning Brew family and keep growing this thing!" (Nate Rosen on X).

✶ FEATURED SPONSOR: POSTSCRIPT

You're leaving money on the table when your customers text you back.

SMS is built for immediacy, but 76% of brands can't respond to customers in real time. Postscript's AI Shopper is an always-on, one-to-one shopping assistant that answers questions instantly and drives sales through real conversations with customers.

Nate Lagos was just on our show. He turned on AI Shopper and made an extra $17K in one day while completely offline. Needless to say, it works. The customers who text you back are one answer away from buying.

ROKT AFTERSELL
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