When Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the (virtual) stage Wednesday at the company's annual Connect conference, he will have a chance to flesh out his vision for artificial intelligence.

Meta still makes almost all of its money selling advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. But Connect, which takes place via livestream on Wednesday and Thursday, promises to be all about consumer AI. The event could have an impact not just on Meta's shares, but also on those of chip makers and its rivals.

"Meta is the company primarily focused on building personal superintelligence for everyone," Zuckerberg wrote in an essay last month, perhaps previewing his speech Wednesday. "Most other labs are focused on building AI for companies, governments, or other institutions."

Two Meta products-its Muse AI personal assistant and AI-powered glasses-are at the forefront of that strategy. Expect to hear plenty about both of them at Connect, which kicks off Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET with Zuckerberg's keynote.

Muse

Meta's Muse personal assistant has been a hit since launching in the U.S. on Sept. 8, becoming the Apple App Store's most-downloaded free app each of the last five days, per data from Sensor Tower.

The agent can book appointments and trips, place orders, and send emails and messages on behalf of users. It comes with both a free option and two paid premium subscriptions priced at $20 and $100 a month.

Muse's quick adoption has given Meta momentum heading into Connect. Since Sept. 8, shares have surged about 20%.

Meta is the first public company to launch a notable stand-alone AI assistant, making Connect a crucial test case for the product segment. Data around downloads are one thing; investors will be looking for details on early engagement trends and the capabilities of Meta's underlying Muse Spark AI models, said BofA analyst Justin Post.

The company is hosting more than a dozen technical sessions intended for developers on Thursday, but none of them focus on Muse specifically. That makes Zuckerberg's presentation a must-watch for investors, rivals pursuing their own AI assistants, and the broader AI industry.

Beyond Meta's own stock, positive signals about Muse could boost chip makers such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, which make the central-processing units that power AI agents. Whether Meta wins the AI race is less important to the chip makers than whether consumer AI agents are here to stay.

Meta Glasses

Meta's AI glasses were a focus of last year's Connect. If the company's summer marketing push is any indication, that will continue in 2026.

Ads highlighting Meta's donation of AI glasses to every legally blind military veteran in the U.S. have been everywhere to start football season. And in June, Meta unveiled a glasses collaboration with fashion and beauty influencer Kylie Jenner.

Connect will have sessions encouraging developers to build tools for Meta's AI glasses and web apps for Meta's collaboration with sunglass maker Ray-Ban. Developers can also learn how to integrate their existing mobile apps with Meta's eyewear.

The biggest potential storyline, though, is whether Meta can somehow integrate its Muse agent into the glasses. Doing so would create a kind of closed consumer AI ecosystem combining physical hardware and agentic AI, said Lloyd Walmsley, an analyst at Mizuho Securities.

While Snap has its Specs personal-assistant glasses, they still aren't widely available, cost nearly $2,200, and Snap has to rely on third-party AI models.

"Muse-on-glasses represents the clearest path yet toward a consumer AI 'killer app' and could become the most important announcement from Connect," Walmsley wrote in a research note Tuesday.

The Risks

It's better to enter a big annual conference with momentum than without it, but it also means investors' expectations for Connect are likely higher than they were a month ago.

Beyond all the new AI products, analysts also expect Meta to unveil a new large-language model, which has been code-named Watermelon, either at or soon after Connect. Shareholders' hopes are riding on a successful Connect and the big Watermelon release.

Following those events, Meta's coming calendar is light on potential stock catalysts, said Post, the BofA analyst. The relative quiet could shift focus back to Meta's hundreds of billions of dollars in capital expenditures.

Meanwhile, Alphabet and OpenAI loom as possible competitors in the personal agentic AI market. If the Muse rollout continues to go well, expect those rivals to jump in. If it doesn't, Meta will have been the guinea pig in a market still skeptical of consumer AI.