Social media giant Meta Platforms (META) is building Muse as a personal AI assistant that can actually do things for users, such as booking trips and making purchases. Tech giant Google (GOOGL) is taking a different approach with Gemini by spreading Gemini across Search, Gmail, Workspace, Chrome, and Android. As a result, Meta wants Muse to act like a personal digital worker, while Google wants Gemini to become part of the tools people already use. Interestingly, though, Wall Street currently prefers Google because it offers more upside potential.

Meta Platforms

Beginning with Meta, Muse is designed to execute tasks for users and keep working after the user closes the app. In addition, when it reaches a step that needs approval, Muse can return to the user before taking action. It also remembers personal information the user chooses to share and can connect with a wide range of apps.

That ability raises obvious privacy concerns, so Meta has added several security controls. Muse runs inside a separate secure computer environment with its own browser. Login information is stored separately, which allows Muse to access accounts without seeing the actual password. Users must also approve sensitive actions, and Meta provides a record showing what Muse has done.

As a result, Muse feels more like a digital helper that can act for someone rather than a standard chatbot. Importantly, Meta can distribute it through WhatsApp and the Muse app, with plans to eventually offer it on AI glasses. Meta One could also help the company make money from AI because paid plans offer more AI features on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Meta AI.

Still, Muse only launched in September, so Meta needs to prove that people will trust it with purchases and private accounts. That matters even more because Meta spent $31.08 billion on capital expenditures in Q2, which increases the pressure for its AI products to eventually produce meaningful revenue.

Google

In contrast, Gemini starts from a much larger existing user base. The Gemini app reached 950 million monthly active users by Q2, and it powers AI features on many major Google products. Interestingly, Google's closest answer to Muse is Gemini Spark. Spark is a personal agent built on Gemini 3.5 and Google's Antigravity agent platform. It can manage inbox tasks and schedule appointments, as well as work on connected Google services. Recent updates also added connections to Chrome and Google Photos.

However, Gemini is not limited to Spark. For example, Google's Search includes agents that can monitor topics in the background, while Workspace puts Gemini inside Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Gmail. Separately, Gemini Enterprise lets companies build and control their own agents, and developers can create agents through the Gemini API.

That reach is Google's biggest product advantage, since users don't need to adopt a new AI app because Gemini can appear inside tools they already use. This could also support the argument that Google doesn't necessarily need the absolute best AI model on the market.

Given how integrated its products already are, it may simply need something that is good enough to discourage users from going through the hassle of switching. Nevertheless, the fact that its AI capabilities are spread out throughout multiple apps may make Google's AI lineup feel more complicated.

Wall Street's Take

Overall, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on both stocks. Meta's $759.43 average price target implies about 12.3% upside. On the other hand, Google's $427.08 target implies 23.3% upside. (See GOOGL Stock Forecast).