Meta pulls AI image feature after privacy backlash
Image: BBC News
Meta built a tool that could turn your public Instagram posts into AI-generated fakes — and pulled it within days after the internet pushed back.
The feature was part of Muse Image, Meta's first entry into AI image generation, launched on Tuesday. It let users of the Meta AI chatbot tag public Instagram accounts and quickly spin up altered or fabricated images using that account's content.
The catch: users were opted in by default. Anyone with a public profile could have their likeness used without ever knowing or agreeing. Privacy campaigners called it a raw power grab over people's images.
The blowback was swift. Hollywood union SAG-Aftra called the reversal a "win," saying the original rollout showed an "utter miscalculation of public sentiment." Privacy International said it was "the latest sign AI companies see people's images and data as raw material to be exploited."
Meta admitted it had "missed the mark," saying its intent was "to give people control" and that it had "heard the feedback." Muse Image itself remains, but the controversial tagging feature is gone.
More AI tools are still planned for WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger. The episode is a warning that, in the AI land-grab, consent may be the one feature users refuse to give up.