Meta scraps AI image feature days after launch following privacy backlash

By Natalia Bueno Rebolledo and Mrinmay Dey

July 10 (Reuters) - Meta said on Friday it is discontinuing an AI feature launched this week that allowed users to generate images using public Instagram accounts, after drawing widespread criticism over privacy concerns, including from a Hollywood union.

"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," Meta said in a statement.

"We've heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it's no longer available," it said.

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, had launched Muse Image on Tuesday, its first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs. The feature, integrated into its Meta AI chatbot, can use photos as input and lets users edit generated images directly through sketches.

The feature soon faced backlash over privacy concerns and being an automatic opt-in for users.

Emmy-winning actor Hannah Einbinder, known for "Hacks," criticized the feature on Instagram, saying it had been turned on automatically and urging users to turn it off.

SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors and other media professionals, also urged members and other Instagram users on Thursday to opt out of the feature.

"Anything other than a clear and conspicuous opt-in for these types of uses of Instagram users' images is unacceptable, and an utter miscalculation of public sentiment regarding the obvious dangers and harms inherent in such use," SAG-AFTRA said.

Following Meta's decision to remove the feature, SAG-AFTRA welcomed the move.

"With the dangers of nonconsensual digital replicas well known to all, a feature that encouraged that behavior is unwise. We appreciate its discontinuance. It is the responsible thing to do," a union spokesperson said.

The reversal reflects increasing pressure on technology companies to give users clear control over how their publicly shared content is used by AI features.

(Reporting by Natalia Bueno Rebolledo and Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Tom Hogue)