Meta is facing a fresh privacy storm over its new AI tool, Muse Image, which can generate pictures using other people’s public Instagram profile pictures without telling them. The feature, available through the Meta AI app, web browser, WhatsApp and Instagram Stories for US users, allows anyone to type a few lines of text and create an altered image of a real person pulled from the platform.
Donald Campbell, advocacy director at tech justice non-profit Foxglove, told the BBC it was an “obvious recipe for disaster”. “We’ve already seen a catalogue of harms from non-consensual AI-altered images on social platforms just in the past year,” he said. “It is hard to see why Mark Zuckerberg thinks facilitating yet more of this creepy image manipulation is a good idea.”
“Meta's Muse AI tool can generate images from public Instagram profile photos, sparking privacy outcry.”
Privacy International also criticised the feature, telling the BBC it was “the latest sign AI companies see people’s images and data as raw material to be exploited”. One user wrote on X: “Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate.”
The tool enters a crowded market of text-to-image generators, but its integration with Instagram is new – and powerful. To demonstrate, a BBC reporter asked Muse AI to make it look like they were driving a car; the tool did so, though the AI failed to notice the steering wheel is on the right in a UK car.
Meta said a dedicated setting, separate from account privacy controls, allows users to opt out even if they have a public account. To do so, users must go to Instagram’s settings menu, select “Sharing and Reuse” and switch off “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features at Meta” for posts and reels. These settings only appear for public accounts – private accounts cannot be used.
The feature is likely to face heightened scrutiny as regulators and campaigners raise concerns about AI-generated images. Ofcom is currently investigating X over Grok’s role in creating and sharing non-consensual AI-altered images of real people. In a blog post, Meta said the tool uses “advanced reasoning to understand complex prompts, seamlessly blending multiple photos into high-quality creations you can download and share anywhere”. The company said users can also choose from presets and suggested prompts to “spark ideas”, as well as sketch edits directly onto images. While the tool is free for “everyday creation”, Meta said heavier users may face restrictions. The question now is whether an opt-out mechanism will be enough to contain the fallout.