Meta’s Muse may be marketed as a helpful personal assistant, but internal instructions reviewed by TIME and extracted by an independent researcher indicate that the AI agent is designed to build detailed, continuously updated profiles of users and people in their lives, including people who have never used Muse themselves.

Muse has grown rapidly since its 8 September launch, with more than 4 million people using the assistant in some way at least once a week, according to internal figures reviewed by The Information. The findings raise questions about how much an AI assistant can learn about people who never chose to use it.

TIME’s analysis found that Muse’s internal instructions call for updating these profiles roughly every hour, using information about people mentioned in chats, messages, and emails the assistant can access. The profiles can include how users met their contacts, shared interests, disagreements, and ‘tensions and alliances’ within their social circles.

WIRED separately reported that Muse’s instructions call for creating ‘a page for every person in the user’s life,’ including family, partners, friends, colleagues, collaborators, and people the user follows. As a result, people who have never used Muse could still appear in a user’s relationship profiles if information about them is available to the assistant.

Quelle surprise.