The company on Tuesday introduced Muse Image, its first AI image model developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs|Meta Platforms, Inc.

Meta is expanding its artificial intelligence ambitions with a new image-generation tool for Instagram, but the launch is already drawing criticism over how it uses public user photos.

The company introduced Muse on Tuesday, which allows anyone to enter the username of a public Instagram account and generate new images inspired by that person’s photos.

Meta said the feature is designed to help users create personalized invitations, social media graphics, and other creative content.

Muse Image is currently available to US users through the Meta AI app, web browser, WhatsApp, and Instagram Stories. According to the company, private Instagram accounts are excluded from the feature by default.

Privacy concerns grow
The rollout has sparked privacy concerns because Instagram will not notify users when someone creates images using their public photos. In addition, content already generated through the tool will remain available even if a user later changes their settings.

People who want to block the feature can disable it by opening Instagram, going to Settings, selecting the “Sharing and Reuse” tab, and toggling off “allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features on Meta.”

Digital rights advocates argue that Meta should ask users for permission rather than requiring them to opt out. Advocacy group Foxglove called the feature an obvious recipe for disaster, saying it could make AI-generated fake images easier to create.

Privacy International also criticized Meta for treating people’s photos as data to exploit.

What’s next
Despite the backlash, Meta plans to expand Muse to Facebook, Messenger, and its advertising products while developing a video-generation version. The launch intensifies competition with OpenAI and Google as major tech companies race to deliver more advanced AI creative tools.

Meta has been known for its questionable behavior.

The company paid a $5 billion fine in 2019 over the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Two years later, Facebook scrapped its facial recognition system after lawsuits challenged its collection of biometric data.