- Meta has withdrawn its new Instagram AI image feature days after launching it.
- The tool allowed users to generate AI images using content from public Instagram accounts.
- Privacy concerns and criticism over the default opt-in setting prompted the company to reverse course.
Meta has pulled its newly launched Instagram AI image feature just days after its debut, following widespread criticism over privacy and user consent.
The Instagram AI feature, known as Muse Image, allowed users of the Meta AI chatbot to generate or edit images using content from public Instagram accounts. The feature was switched on by default, meaning users with public profiles could have their photos referenced without actively choosing to participate.
Meta said it had discontinued the feature after acknowledging it had "missed the mark".
Privacy concerns take centre stage
The company said the feature had been designed to give people a creative AI tool while allowing them to decide whether their public content could be used in this way. However, Meta reportedly admitted it had received strong feedback and had therefore removed the feature.
Muse Image, introduced on July 7, marked Meta's first image-generation model developed by its Meta Superintelligence Labs. While initially available only on Instagram through the Meta AI chatbot, the company had planned to extend similar AI capabilities to Facebook, WhatsApp and Messenger.
The feature quickly drew criticism because public Instagram users were automatically enrolled. Critics argued that people should have been asked to give explicit permission before their images could be used to generate AI content.
Pressure grows over AI and consent
Hollywood performers' union SAG-AFTRA welcomed Meta's decision to withdraw the feature. The union had earlier urged members and other Instagram users to opt out, saying that anything short of a clear opt-in for AI use of people's images was unacceptable, as quoted in a statement.
London-based human rights group Privacy International also criticised the feature, reportedly saying it reflected a wider trend of AI companies treating people's images and personal data as material for AI systems.
Actor Hannah Einbinder, known for the television series Hacks, also publicly criticised the feature and encouraged Instagram users to disable it before Meta withdrew it.
Although Meta has abandoned Muse Image for now, the company has indicated it is continuing to develop other AI products, including an AI video-generation tool.
