How to opt out so Meta’s new AI image generator won’t use your personal Instagram photos

Meta has entered the crowded market of AI image generators with the launch of Muse Image. Photo by Imen Ben Youssef/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

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Meta is facing criticism for its inaugural AI image generator, Muse Image. The new model allows anyone to use your content by default if you’re an adult with a public Instagram account. Doing so is apparently as simple as tagging a public profile in the Meta AI app and prompting the chatbot to generate new images based on photos from that account.

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On July 7, Meta joined the ranks of many other AI image generators on the market — including the successor to Google’s viral sensation, Nano Banana 2 — with the launch of the first media generation models developed by its Superintelligence Labs: Muse Image and Muse Video.

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Meta says Muse Image “uses advanced reasoning to understand complex prompts, seamlessly blending multiple photos into high-quality creations you can download and share anywhere — including directly to your chat, story or feed.”

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Critics, on the other hand, are concerned about non-consensual image manipulation. Adults with public Instagram accounts were automatically opted in. Unless they opt out, people can use their published photos to create new AI images.

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The backlash came swiftly, with users expressing their displeasure on social media. As one wrote on X, “Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate.”

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Technology advocates and talent agencies also raised concerns about privacy and consent.

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Donald Campbell, director of advocacy at the tech justice non-profit Foxglove, told the BBC that the move was an “obvious recipe for disaster.” Creative Artists Agency reportedly called for Meta to make the feature opt-in rather than opt-out, saying in a statement, “No one’s name, image, likeness, voice or creative work should be used by any third party, including AI models, without clear, documented consent. True innovation puts creators first: respecting their rights, protecting their livelihoods, and giving them real control, not handing it over to platforms.”

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A Meta spokesperson reportedly said in a statement that the company built Muse Image with strong controls and safety guardrails. “Private accounts and those belonging to users under 18 are automatically excluded and adult users with public accounts can opt out with just a couple clicks. We will take action against any content that violates our Community Standards.”

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Users can opt out by setting their Instagram profiles to private or, if they wish to keep them public, tapping the profile picture icon in the bottom-right corner of the screen, then the menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner, and scrolling down to “Sharing and reuse.”

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In the U.S., the sections are reportedly titled “Allow people to reuse your content on Instagram and with AI features,” which users with public accounts can turn off.

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In Canada, users with public accounts can currently toggle off the options that allow people “to create with and reuse your content” (posts and reels, with no mention of AI), and to “create with and reuse your original audio on Meta AI” (reels only).

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Meta rolled out Muse Image on the Meta AI app and meta.ai, Instagram Stories in the United States and WhatsApp in limited countries. The company announced it will soon bring the image generation model “to more countries and the places where people use Meta AI, including Facebook and Messenger, and additional surfaces on Instagram and WhatsApp.” It expects to release Muse Video, its AI video generator, in the months ahead.

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