Meta AI takes the @muse Instagram handle from the band Muse

Meta gave its new AI agent the Muse Instagram handle that a rock band had used for years. Meta presented the agent on Tuesday 9 September 2026. The British group Muse, which has more than 2.7 million followers on Instagram, now posts as @museband.

The band moved to @museband months before Meta said anything

The switch did not happen on announcement day. Digital Music News dates the band’s move to early June 2026, around the release of its tenth album, The WOW! Signal. Engadget puts the Instagram change in July and notes that forum users spotted it even earlier. Meta only claimed the name in public in September.

No one has said whether money changed hands

Neither Meta nor the band’s representatives answered questions from either outlet. Engadget writes that the group has held a trademark on its name since 1999. Digital Music News found no evidence that Meta took the handle by force and raised the possibility that the band was paid for it. Both versions remain unconfirmed.

Meta staff tagged the band instead of their own product

In the first posts about the agent, Meta employees linked to the band’s account rather than the AI one. A New York Times reporter described it as a bug. For the group, that meant notifications from an audience looking for software.

What the agent named Muse actually does

Meta Muse runs tasks instead of answering questions. It can send email, fill in forms, arrange a calendar, book a trip and complete a purchase. It works inside a separate space called Muse Secure VM, keeps running after the app is closed and pings the user when a task is done or needs approval. We covered the agent that shops and pays on your behalf when it launched.

Handles are brand assets with no register behind them

A trademark protects a name in commerce. A username is held at the platform’s discretion, and the platform here is also the company that wanted the name. Instagram has been reshaping its own rules in the same period, including a decision to show fewer people AI profiles without a label.

The next release will show what the old handle was worth

Muse put out The WOW! Signal in June 2026 and changed address in the same weeks. The open question is whether @museband pulls the traffic that @muse used to pull. The band’s next campaign, posted from the new account, will answer it. Every company sitting on a one-word handle should read that answer carefully.