Meta scraps Muse Image after privacy and copyright backlash
Meta killed Muse Image three days after launch, after users and Hollywood agencies objected to public Instagram profiles being used for AI images by default.
Meta pulled Muse Image on Friday, three days after launch, after the tool let people generate AI images from public Instagram accounts. Meta said the feature had “missed the mark” and was no longer available.
The feature had been folded into Meta AI on Tuesday as Meta’s first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs. It launched on meta.ai and Instagram Stories in the U.S., with WhatsApp in select international territories and a promised expansion to Facebook and Muse Video. Users could mention or tag a public Instagram account in a prompt, then edit generated images directly through sketches or annotations.
For accounts held by people over 18, public profiles were opted in by default, leaving users to turn the setting off manually. Users under 18 were automatically opted out, and Meta did not notify people when profile content was used as a reference.
Hannah Einbinder criticized the rollout on Instagram, saying it had been turned on automatically and urging users to switch it off. SAG-AFTRA urged members and other Instagram users to opt out, then welcomed the removal as “the responsible thing to do.” CAA pushed Meta to make the tool opt-in and said no one’s name, image, likeness, voice or creative work should be used without clear, documented consent.
Malwarebytes warned the feature could lower the barrier to impersonation, scams, phishing and fraud because it let anyone build images from a public Instagram profile without notice.
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