Meta has rolled out a new artificial intelligence image generator that allows users to create AI-generated images based on public Instagram profiles, automatically opting eligible accounts into the feature unless users choose to disable it.
According to a Wired report, the feature is powered by Meta’s new Muse Image model, the first release from its newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs. Meta said the model can generate photorealistic images, perform precise edits and draw on Instagram for “social context” when creating content.
With the update, anyone using Meta AI can generate an image simply by tagging that account in a prompt. The generated images can then be shared through chats, Stories, or Instagram posts. Some celebrity accounts are excluded from the feature.
Introducing Muse Image and Muse Video, the first media generation models developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Muse Image is our most advanced image generation model yet. It follows instructions faithfully, edits with precision, composes from multiple references, and draws… pic.twitter.com/byNpQZO1RW
— AI at Meta (@AIatMeta) July 7, 2026
According to the Instagram Help Center, content from public accounts may be reused by other users to create new Reels, posts, or Stories through features such as Remix, Sequence, Templates, and Stickers. Meta also says its AI features can use public Instagram content to generate new content.
The Help Center notes that if an Instagram account is private, no one can reuse any part of the account’s Reels, feed videos, or photos. It also states that reused content “may be discoverable in search engine results,” depending on the other user’s settings.
The rollout initially applies to public Instagram accounts in the United States. The company said the tool is free for everyday use, while users who need additional generations can subscribe to one of its paid plans for expanded access.
Privacy International criticized the feature, telling the BBC it was “the latest sign AI companies see people’s images and data as raw material to be exploited.”
The nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen criticized the feature, calling it “an egregious invasion of user privacy.”
“Meta has once again chosen the creepiest possible path,” J.B. Branch, Public Citizen’s director of federal AI governance and technology policy, said in a statement. “People should not wake up to discover their face has become raw material for someone else’s AI experiment.
“This is another invasion of consumers’ privacy. Instead of asking for meaningful consent, Meta quietly defaults users into the system and buries the opt-out in account settings.”
Some social media users also voiced privacy concerns. “Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate,” one user wrote on X.
Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate
— Volodymyr Pavlenko (@mindinpanic) July 7, 2026
How to opt out
Users who want to prevent their public Instagram content from being used by Meta AI can either switch their account to private or opt out while keeping the account public.
To disable the feature, users can open the Instagram app, go to their profile, tap the menu in the upper-right corner, select “Sharing and reuse,” and turn off the toggles for “Posts” and “Reels” under “Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features on Meta.”
The launch comes as major technology companies continue expanding AI-powered image generation tools integrated with social media platforms, intensifying debates over privacy, consent, and the use of publicly shared content to train or power generative AI systems.
Meta said it plans to expand Muse Image to Facebook and Messenger, as well as make it available to advertisers through a separate platform. The company is also developing a video-generation version of the AI model.
