Meta faces backlash over AI tool that generates images from public Instagram profiles

Meta’s new Muse Image feature is drawing fire from privacy advocates and regulators for allowing AI-generated photos that incorporate images from public Instagram profiles without notifying the people depicted. The tool, available via Meta AI on the web and app, WhatsApp and Instagram Stories for U.S. users, offers free everyday use and paid tiers for heavier creation, with expansion planned to Facebook, Messenger and advertiser products. Meta says users with public accounts can opt out through a dedicated setting, but critics call the approach inadequate and warn of enabling non-consensual manipulated images. The rollout lands as scrutiny of AI imagery intensifies, with the U.K.’s Ofcom probing X’s Grok over similar issues. The launch underscores Big Tech’s push into consumer AI amid mounting legal and regulatory risk.

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