Meta has launched a new AI image tool called Muse Image across Instagram, Meta AI and WhatsApp, but the rollout has drawn criticism because all public Instagram profiles have been automatically opted in to be used in the tool's AI "remixes". This means anyone can tag a public account in a prompt and use Meta AI to generate an image based on that person's likeness from their public photos, a capability that critics say is open to abuse. The concern matters because users were enrolled by default rather than asked to consent, raising privacy questions particularly in regions such as the EU.

Announced on Tuesday, Muse Image promises "advanced reasoning" to interpret complex prompts and blend multiple photos, and adds 30 new effects for Instagram Stories, including one mimicking a disposable camera, plus a preview interface in the image editor. Users can opt out while keeping their account public by going to the hamburger menu, then "Sharing and reuse", and switching off "Allow people to create with and reuse your content" for both posts and reels. However, Instagram's help centre notes that people are not notified if their content is reused, and images already remixed before the setting is disabled are not deleted. The feature has prompted anger on Reddit and elsewhere, and the author notes it was enabled by default in France, suggesting EU privacy laws may lead to further scrutiny.