Meta pulls Instagram's Muse AI feature after privacy backlash

The heavily criticised AI feature was announced along with the introduction of Muse Image, which was the first AI image generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs

Updated - July 14, 2026 04:24 pm IST

By The Hindu Bureau

In less than a week, Meta has discontinued a controversial AI feature it added to Instagram, admitting that it “missed the mark.” The social media giant faced backlash from its users over privacy concerns.

The feature, called Muse AI, was announced on July 7, allowing users to mention another user’s public Instagram account in order to use their photos and edit them with AI.

The heavily criticised AI feature was launched alongside Muse Image — Meta Superintelligence Labs’ first AI image generation model.

User Concerns and Backlash

Meta users were worried that their images could be misused and morphed without their consent. Some shared how users can opt out of the feature and prevent others from using their media for AI edits.

Meta’s Response

“Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference. 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. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available,” said Instagram in a July 10 update to an earlier blog post.

Industry Reaction

Hollywood actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which had slammed the earlier rollout of the AI feature, agreed with Meta’s decision to scrap it.

“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,” posted the union on X on July 11.

Published - July 13, 2026 10:12 am IST