AI já machuca empresas que dependem da inércia do consumidor

The era of consumer inertia is waning as artificial intelligence agents take over, according to a recent Brazil Journal article. These AI agents are capable of performing tasks that humans are often reluctant to complete, such as negotiating refunds or canceling reservations. Companies like Netflix, Booking, Expedia, Charles Schwab, Allstate, and Planet Fitness have all seen their stock prices plummet due to the rapid adoption of Meta's AI assistant, Muse.

The Goldman Sachs consumer inertia basket, which tracks the performance of companies that rely on consumer inertia, has dropped more than 10% since the launch of Muse two weeks ago. Planet Fitness, in particular, has seen an 18% drop in the last five days and a 62% devaluation since the beginning of the year. The New York Times and Allstate have also experienced significant declines in stock value.

Analysts predict that AI agents could even threaten the dominance of online service platforms like Uber. The decline in stock prices mirrors the situation seen with software as a service companies in February when Anthropic and OpenAI agents entered the market. Meta's AI assistant, Muse, has seen a surge in downloads, with the company's stock up 13% in the last two days and up 33% in the last 30 days.

The potential for Muse to become the most widely used AI agent, following ChatGPT, has been highlighted by a JP Morgan analyst. Meta, which has 3.6 billion users across apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, is well-positioned to offer more assertive advertising with the help of AI agents.