Meta Removes Controversial AI Feature Allowing Image Creation from Public Instagram Accounts

Meta has removed a controversial AI feature just three days after its launch that allowed users to create and edit images using public Instagram accounts by tagging them with @, without notifying the account owners. The feature was part of Meta's new Muse Image AI tool, developed by its Meta Superintelligence Labs, and was introduced earlier this week alongside other AI tools.

The company acknowledged the backlash over privacy concerns and admitted the feature "missed the mark," stating in a blog post that their goal was to provide a useful creative tool while giving people control over whether their public content could be referenced this way. Meta said it listened to user feedback and decided to disable the feature, which is no longer available.

Although Meta claimed users had control through settings to disable the use of their images, content created before disabling the feature would not be deleted. The feature had allowed easy AI image generation using tagged public Instagram accounts, including Israeli celebrities like Bar Refaeli and Einav Bublil, as well as global figures such as Mark Zuckerberg.

The AI tool was expected to expand to Facebook, Messenger, and Meta's advertising system Meta Advantage+. Meanwhile, Google has also expanded user data usage for AI development with a new Search Services History setting that saves images, files, audio, and video to improve AI services.

The integration of AI tools in social platforms has frequently been misused, including for creating fake nude images of celebrities. Despite efforts to curb such abuses, protective measures have often been insufficient.