Meta announced Friday that its Muse Image AI feature is no longer available on Instagram or the Meta AI app, ending a launch that lasted only three days. The tool, unveiled Tuesday by Meta Superintelligence Labs under chief AI officer Alexandr Wang, allowed anyone to tag a public Instagram profile in a prompt and generate images that incorporated that person’s publicly shared photos. Private accounts and users under 18 were excluded, but all other public accounts were automatically opted in unless the owner manually opted out in settings.
The default opt‑out model sparked immediate criticism from the entertainment industry. SAG‑AFTRA, the union representing more than 160,000 film and television workers, urged members and all Instagram users to disable the feature, calling any approach that lacks a clear, conspicuous opt‑in "unacceptable" and a miscalculation of public sentiment. Talent agency CAA echoed the concern, stating that no one’s name, image, likeness, voice, or creative work should be used by a third party, including AI models, without documented consent.
Actors quickly voiced their unease. Emmy‑winning Hannah Einbinder, known for HBO’s *Hacks*, posted on Instagram that the feature had been turned on automatically for her account and urged followers to disable it. Earlier, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the rollout, saying safety measures were already built in, but the company reversed course less than 24 hours after the criticism intensified.
Meta’s statement explained that the company had “heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark” on privacy and therefore pulled it. The company added that Muse Video, a separate AI‑generated video tool launched alongside Muse Image, remains available.
The episode fits a pattern of Meta launching AI products that treat user data as freely available by default and retreating after public outcry. The European Union recently found Meta’s “pay or consent” advertising model in breach of the Digital Markets Act, and state attorneys general are pursuing up to $1.4 trillion in damages over youth safety concerns.
SAG‑AFTRA welcomed the removal, noting that the dangers of non‑consensual digital replicas are well known and that discontinuing the feature was the responsible action. As the debate over AI‑generated imagery continues, Meta’s brief foray with Muse Image underscores the delicate balance between innovation and the rights of individuals whose likenesses fuel these new technologies.
Este artículo fue escrito con la asistencia de IA.
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