Guwahati: Meta has discontinued its controversial Muse AI feature on Instagram less than a week after its launch, admitting the tool “missed the mark” following widespread criticism over privacy and consent.
Launched on July 7 alongside Meta Superintelligence Labs’ new Muse Image generation model, the feature enabled users to create AI-edited images by referencing photos from another person’s public Instagram account.
The rollout immediately sparked privacy concerns, with many users warning that public photos could be manipulated or misused without the account holder’s consent. In response, viral posts quickly circulated instructions on how to opt out of the feature.
Confirming the rollback in a July 10 blog update, Instagram stated the feature was intended to offer a creative tool while letting public account holders control their content.
However, the company acknowledged that user feedback indicated the feature had fallen short of expectations, leading to its withdrawal.
The move was welcomed by Hollywood actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, which had fiercely criticized the tool at launch.
In a post on X on July 11, the union called the cancellation a responsible decision, arguing that introducing a tool capable of facilitating non-consensual digital replicas was ill-advised given the well-established risks of the technology.