Meta deactivates feature that let you generate AI images of any public Instagram account

Meta has deactivated Muse Image, a feature within its AI tools that enabled users to generate synthetic images based on any public Instagram account by tagging it with an @-mention. The removal follows growing scrutiny over the ease with which the tool could be used to produce realistic, AI-generated likenesses of real people without their knowledge or consent.

The core concern with Muse Image was its accessibility - any public profile on Instagram could be used as a subject, meaning celebrities, journalists, private individuals with public accounts, and others were all fair targets. Unlike tools that require a user to upload reference photos themselves, this feature drew directly from publicly available Instagram content, lowering the barrier to generating convincing depictions of specific people significantly.

The broader context here is an ongoing and largely unresolved debate about where generative image AI should draw the line when it comes to real human subjects. Several platforms and regulators have been wrestling with non-consensual intimate imagery and deepfakes more generally, and legislation targeting such content has advanced in a number of jurisdictions. Meta's decision to deactivate the feature suggests the company concluded the risks outweighed the product value, at least for now, though no detailed explanation has been offered publicly.

It is not yet clear whether Muse Image will return in a modified form with additional safeguards - such as requiring subject consent or limiting generation to the account holder's own profile - or whether it has been shelved entirely. Meta has been investing heavily in generative AI features across its family of apps, so the deactivation is likely a recalibration rather than a retreat from the space altogether. For now, the move removes one of the more direct routes for misuse of AI image generation on a major social platform.