META PULLS INSTAGRAM AI IMAGE FEATURE AFTER PRIVACY BACKLASH

Meta has announced that it is discontinuing an artificial intelligence feature launched earlier this week that allowed users to generate images using content from public Instagram accounts.

The decision came after the feature drew widespread criticism over privacy concerns.

Meta said in a statement that its intention was to provide a useful creative tool and give users control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way.

However, the company acknowledged that the feature “missed the mark” after receiving extensive feedback from users, privacy advocates and industry groups.

The feature was introduced on Tuesday alongside Muse Image, Meta’s first image-generation model developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Integrated into the Meta AI chatbot, the model can generate and edit images using photos as input.

Users were also able to refine generated results through sketches.

The Instagram feature quickly triggered backlash because it relied on an opt-out system.

This meant that public content could be used unless users explicitly disabled the setting.

The approach raised concerns over privacy and user consent, leading Meta to withdraw the feature only days after its launch.

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