HomeMeta removes controversial AI feature on Instagram after backlash
Meta has removed a controversial feature that enabled users to alter images from public Instagram profiles using artificial intelligence. The tool, launched earlier this week alongside other AI updates, “missed the mark” and is now unavailable, according to the company.
Earlier this week, Meta introduced Muse Image, an AI image generator developed by its Meta Superintelligence Labs division. The platform highlighted a feature allowing users to create images by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts for reference. This functionality, which did not notify users when their photos were used, sparked immediate backlash.
TechCrunch published a guide explaining how users could disable the feature.
Meta has since reversed its decision. The company announced on Friday via a blog post that it was removing the feature, a move first reported by Puck News founding partner Dylan Byers.
“Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way,” the company stated on its blog. “We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”
TechCrunch contacted Meta for further details and will update this article if a response is received.
Since integrating with social media, AI has been widely misused—often to generate explicit images of female celebrities. While platforms have attempted to curb this trend, their safeguards have frequently proven insufficient.
In Meta’s case, the removed feature was clearly vulnerable to such abuse. As Byers noted, the decision to scrap it came “amid scrutiny from users and talent agencies, including CAA.”
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Meta has removed a controversial feature that enabled users to alter images from public Instagram profiles using artificial intelligence. The tool, launched earlier this week alongside other AI updates, “missed the mark” and is now unavailable, according to the company.
Earlier this week, Meta introduced Muse Image, an AI image generator developed by its Meta Superintelligence Labs division. The platform highlighted a feature allowing users to create images by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts for reference. This functionality, which did not notify users when their photos were used, sparked immediate backlash.
TechCrunch published a guide explaining how users could disable the feature.
Meta has since reversed its decision. The company announced on Friday via a blog post that it was removing the feature, a move first reported by Puck News founding partner Dylan Byers.
“Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way,” the company stated on its blog. “We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”
TechCrunch contacted Meta for further details and will update this article if a response is received.
Since integrating with social media, AI has been widely misused—often to generate explicit images of female celebrities. While platforms have attempted to curb this trend, their safeguards have frequently proven insufficient.
In Meta’s case, the removed feature was clearly vulnerable to such abuse. As Byers noted, the decision to scrap it came “amid scrutiny from users and talent agencies, including CAA.”
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