Meta Now Lets Anyone Use Your Instagram Photos in AI Images—Unless You Opt Out
Meta's new AI image model automatically opts public Instagram profiles into being used for generative AI remixes, requiring manual opt-out to prevent it.
Meta launched its inaugural AI image model from the Meta Superintelligence Labs on Tuesday, competing with OpenAI's GPT Images 2.0 and Google's Nano Banana 2. The new model, called Muse Image, is deeply integrated into Instagram.
As part of this update, public Instagram profiles are now automatically opted into being used for generative AI remixes. Anyone can tag your public account in a prompt and use Meta AI to generate an image using your likeness. Meta presents this as a way to personalize creations, such as event invitations or collaborative concepts.
To opt out without switching your account to private, you need to go to your profile, tap the three lines in the top-right corner, scroll to the Sharing and reuse tab, and toggle off the option labeled "Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features on Meta" for both Posts and Reels.
The author's personal account had not yet received these settings as of Tuesday afternoon. Instagram's help center states that if your account is public and on default settings, others may create content using your Instagram content with Meta's AI features. Already created AI images will not be deleted even if you later change your settings.
Notably, users will not be notified when their content is used for AI generations. This lack of notification is highlighted as a major concern, especially given the broader trend of companies requiring opt-out rather than opt-in for data use.
