Muse have had to change their social media handles to make way for Meta’s new AI tool.
Earlier this year, the Devon rock icons changed their handle on X/Twitter and Instagram from @Muse to @Musetheband, allowing Meta’s new AI tool, also called Muse, to take on their former usernames.
The initial change caused much confusion and discussion among fans online. Some pointed out the irony of the switch, given frontman Matt Bellamy‘s penchant for dystopian lyrics, with their albums ‘Simulation Theory’ and ‘Drones’ including references to algorithms and technology taking over.
Now, Muse have commented on the name change. In an interview with iHeartRadio, Bellamy said that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had sent him “the beta version of the AI” ahead of its launch, adding of the tech giant: “He’s alright, he’s not too bad.”
The interviewer then clarified that Meta didn’t “just steal” the username, to which Bellamy responded: “No, no. We had a chat. He invited me to meet him, and we had a chat.”
He added: “It’s a trademark thing. So I said, ‘don’t touch music, don’t touch merchandise’, so I can sell Muse AI T-shirts, but I can’t make a Muse AI, basically.”
The AI assistant, which was rolled out in the United States this week, is designed to assist users with everyday tasks including responding to emails, making schedules, and converting long-term goals into action plans.
About the Meta AI Muse pic.twitter.com/MwBAxaBF3Y
— Muse Info Fr (@museinfo_fr) September 20, 2026
NME gave Muse’s latest album ‘The Wow! Signal’ four stars, noting: “In rekindling their own purpose, the Teignmouth trio have delivered undoubtedly their most consistent and satisfying album since ‘Black Holes & Revelations’ – doubling up as either a knowing gift to the fans or at least a response to any concerns that Muse had long disappeared too far up their own supermassive blackholes. Look up to the sky with a sigh of relief or a simple ‘wow’.”
Bellamy also recently told NME that the album found him leaning into “the unknown” after a difficult personal period and split from his wife, saying: “I can’t live without music – that feeling came back to me on this album.”
The interview also saw Bellamy look back on the ’00s guitar rock scene and share plans for “building a spaceship” for their upcoming UK and European arena tour.
Muse will bring their ‘The Wow! Signal’ to the UK and Europe this autumn, including two nights at Manchester’s Co-op Live on November 12 and 13, and two London shows at The O2 on November 15 and 16. Find tickets for those shows here.
