How Muse Could Reshape the Market

Muse's consumer-agent capabilities — booking travel, sending emails, and making purchases on a user's behalf — prompted selling Monday in sectors that benefit from customers staying put with their existing providers, according to Bloomberg.

The logic: lower switching friction, lower pricing power

If an AI agent can compare options and switch providers on a user's behalf with a few taps, businesses that have historically relied on inertia, negotiable pricing, or bundled add-ons to retain customers could face new pressure. That's the thesis driving Monday's sector-specific selling, even as the broader market rallied.

Financials and travel led the declines

Major banks, along with the KBE (SPDR S&P Bank ETF) and XLF (Financial Select Sector SPDR), declined as investors assessed whether AI agents could make switching banking providers easier. Travel companies Expedia (EXPE) and Booking Holdings (BKNG) also fell as investors weighed Muse's ability to help users research and book travel accommodations directly — a function that overlaps with the core value proposition of both online travel agencies.

Which sectors are most exposed

Goldman Sachs' trading desk identified telecoms, insurance, and utilities as industries particularly exposed to lower switching friction — businesses that depend on recurring bills, negotiable pricing, and add-on products are, per Bloomberg's reporting, the ones most at risk if agentic AI makes comparison shopping and provider-switching materially easier for consumers.