Meta disables controversial feature of generating images from public Instagram profiles: a privacy lesson for AI
Just three days after the high-profile launch of the Muse Image model, Meta was forced to withdraw one of its key features — the ability to generate images based on mentions of public Instagram accounts. The decision came after a wave of criticism from users and professional communities concerned about privacy violations.
On July 7, Meta introduced Muse Image as a flagship image generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, integrated into Meta AI. A standout feature of the new tool was the option to include a public Instagram profile in the prompt: the neural network used publicly available photos to create new images. However, by July 10, the company updated its announcement, stating that the feature "did not meet user expectations regarding privacy" and has been completely disabled.
The issue lay in the automatic activation of this capability without explicit consent from account owners. Actress Hannah Einbinder publicly called for the feature to be disabled, and the SAG-AFTRA union labeled the approach "unacceptable." In its statement, the organization emphasized: "Any use of Instagram users' images without explicit and conspicuous consent for such purposes is unacceptable and represents a complete miscalculation of public sentiment regarding the obvious dangers and harms."
What remains of Muse Image?
Despite the removal of the controversial feature, the Muse Image model itself continues to operate within Meta AI. Users can still generate and edit images based on text prompts and uploaded photos. Moreover, Meta has already integrated Muse Image into 30 new AI effects for Instagram Stories and into Meta AI chats on WhatsApp, though currently only in a limited number of countries.
My analysis: This incident is a stark example of how rushing the deployment of AI tools can lead to reputational losses. Meta clearly underestimated the audience's sensitivity to issues of personal data usage, even when it comes to public profiles. For the industry, this is a signal: automatic consent for the use of images is no longer an acceptable practice. Companies will have to implement explicit opt-in mechanisms, or regulators and the public will force them to do so.