Meta removed the Instagram Muse Image account’s tagging three days after launch, following criticism that public-profile photos could be used to generate AI images without prior consent.
The company confirmed the removal in a July 10 update to its Muse Image announcement. Meta said the feature had “missed the mark” and was no longer available.
Meta launched Muse Image on July 7 as the first image-generation model developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs. The withdrawn option allowed users to @-mention public Instagram accounts and use their publicly posted images as references in AI prompts.
Adult users with public accounts were included by default. Private profiles and accounts belonging to users under 18 were excluded, according to The Guardian.
Public account holders had to disable content reuse through Instagram’s settings. They were not notified when another user referenced their posts to generate an image.
Read: Meta Muse Image Rolls Out With Instagram Privacy Opt-Out
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, known as SAG-AFTRA, called for clear opt-in consent. Creative Artists Agency also argued that AI replicas of real people should require written permission.
The removal does not end Muse Image. The model remains available through Meta AI and continues to power Instagram Stories effects and image generation in WhatsApp chats in selected markets.
