Meta Shuts Down AI Image Tool Following Backlash

Meta has shuttered an artificial intelligence image creation feature after just three days, following public backlash.

The tech giant last Tuesday (July 7)  introduced a tool that let users generate images using public Instagram accounts. By Friday (July 10), the feature was pulled, after Meta received widespread privacy-related criticism.

“Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way,” Meta said in a statement shared by Reuters. “We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

According to Reuters, the feature had faced backlash related to privacy concerns. It had allowed anyone to generate an image of another person by public Instagram username in a prompt. Public accounts had been included by default unless users navigate to a setting to opt out.

As covered here last week, Meta’s own policy states that users “will not be notified about content created using AI features at Meta.”  The opt-out also did not apply retroactively, meaning that images generated before a user turns off the setting remain in the system.

“That distinction matters because most users will not find the setting, and some who look for it on launch day could not locate it at all,” PYMNTS wrote.

“Public photos posted for an audience of followers become reusable inputs for AI generation by strangers, advertisers and Meta’s own ad system without any action required from the account holder. The feature is free to use. The identity data powering it belongs to the people who posted it. Whether they agreed to that use is now a question for regulators in multiple jurisdictions.”

According to the Reuters report, SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors and other media professionals, urged its members and other Instagram users to opt out of the feature.

“Anything other than a clear and conspicuous opt-in for these types of uses of Instagram users’ images is unacceptable, and an utter miscalculation of public sentiment regarding the obvious dangers and harms inherent in such use,” SAG-AFTRA said.

In the wake of Meta’s decision to remove the feature, a spokesperson for the union welcomed the move, calling it “the responsible thing to do.”

As PYMNTS noted last week, this is happening as Meta faces enormous pressure to show that its AI investments are generating revenue. The company in April forecast AI capital expenditures of $115 billion to $135 billion for 2026, almost double last year’s amount.