Meta Seizes Band Muse's Social Handles for New AI Agent

Meta has officially launched its new artificial intelligence agent, Muse, while simultaneously taking over the coveted @muse username on both Instagram and X. The English rock band Muse, which trademarked its name in 1999 and had used the @muse handle on both platforms for years, has been forced to transition to @museband. The shift on Instagram occurred around July, though some users noticed changes as early as June, ahead of Meta's official product unveiling in September 2026.

The transition was not entirely seamless. Early promotional posts by Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and other company executives mistakenly tagged the band's updated account instead of the new AI agent, an error described as a bug by journalists. This incident is part of a broader pattern of major tech companies reclaiming high-profile usernames. In 2021, Meta acquired the @Meta handle from an independent motorcycle magazine of the same name, and in 2023, it took over the @threads handle from a fashion retailer called American Threads shortly after launching its microblogging platform.

While Meta officially prohibits the buying, selling, or trading of Instagram usernames, the company has historically defended these transitions by stating that it allows users to change their names. Similar actions have occurred on X, where the platform seized the @X handle from its original owner in 2023, offering only merchandise in return, and later took over the @music handle which had been active since 2007. X has since established an official marketplace for purchasing inactive usernames.

For digital marketers and brand managers, this development underscores the fragile nature of digital real estate on centralized platforms. Even long-held trademarks and established social media identities can be abruptly reassigned when a platform operator launches a conflicting product. Practitioners must recognize that platform terms of service ultimately supersede traditional trademark protections in the digital space, necessitating robust contingency plans for brand protection.