{"id":749761,"date":"2026-07-08T03:43:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T03:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/749761\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T03:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T03:43:16","slug":"meta-just-launched-a-new-ai-generator-muse-image-and-users-are-already-pushing-back-over-use-of-their-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/749761\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta just launched a new AI generator, Muse Image, and users are already pushing back over use of their photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta on Tuesday unveiled<\/a> Muse Image, its new AI image generator built by Meta Superintelligence Labs, the company\u2019s dedicated AI unit. The feature, which was internally code-named Mango, is now available for free<\/a> through the Meta AI app, as well as on Instagram Stories and WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the new model is already causing controversy. <\/p>\n

What exactly can you do with Muse? It sounds like the use cases are similar to most other AI image generators \u2014 you\u2019ll be able to create plenty of goofy, cartoonish images, for instance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re short on inspiration and can\u2019t come up with original prompts on your own, Meta says that Muse comes with \u201cpresets\u201d \u2014 prefabricated image prompts \u2014 to \u201cspark ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a particularly eyebrow-raising feature allows users to manipulate another Instagram user\u2019s images with AI, as long as that user\u2019s profile is public. Users merely tag the person, and it allows them to take their picture and use it to create a new AI image. <\/p>\n

Said one X user after The Verge first pointed out<\/a> how potentially invasive this is, \u201cPulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine<\/a> waiting to detonate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta policy states that \u201cpeople may be able to create content with your Instagram content using AI features at Meta\u201d and that \u201cYou will not be notified about content created using AI features at Meta.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta claims users \u201chave control\u201d over this feature, noting that there are settings<\/a> you can use to disable this kind of co-option of your pictures if you want to.<\/p>\n

Muse has other, less invasive applications. One is creating custom ads<\/a> (AI has notably crept into advertising over the past year). Another is experimenting with interior decorating ideas \u2014 in a promotional video, a user leverages Muse to see what a secondhand couch might look like in their garage. This last function is designed to integrate with Facebook Marketplace, Meta\u2019s popular Craigslist-like locus of used furniture and accessories.<\/p>\n

The model also features prompt-based image editing, which lets users create images to share across Meta\u2019s apps and platforms<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk it to mock up an image of you in front of a historical landmark, cleanly erase a photobomber from the background of a shot, or write a custom prompt to build a functional QR code,\u201d the company offers.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Meta is launching a host of new AI effects<\/a> for Instagram Stories, powered by Muse \u2014 notably, the same platform at the center of the photo-tagging concerns above. Those effects include customizable filters that can modify existing photos.<\/p>\n

Meta says use of the new AI model is free for \u201ceveryday creation,\u201d though users will need a subscription plan once they exceed a certain limit.<\/p>\n

The company also said Muse Video \u2014 presumably an AI video generator \u2014 is \u201calready in development.\u201d TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for more information.<\/p>\n

Meta has released a number of AI apps and services over the past year, including an AI assistant called Creator<\/a>, and Pocket<\/a>, an app that can be used to vibe code video games. The company has been accused of having a nebulous AI strategy<\/a>, although it\u2019s still on track to spend a whole lot<\/a> on AI infrastructure this year as it continues to build out its services.<\/p>\n

Meta\u2019s privacy record is one reason for users\u2019 unease over Muse. The company paid a then-record $5 billion fine <\/a>to the FTC in 2019, after regulators found that the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly harvested data from tens of millions of Facebook users \u2014 without their knowledge \u2014 to build voter-targeting profiles ahead of the 2016 U.S. election. Facebook had known<\/a> about the data misuse for years before it became public. <\/p>\n

Separately, the company shut down<\/a> Facebook\u2019s facial-recognition system in 2021 \u2014 a tool that had automatically recognized people in photos and videos \u2014 amid lawsuits and regulatory pressure over its collection of biometric data. Basically, Muse\u2019s photo-tagging feature, which is opt-out by default, fits a pattern users and regulators have flagged before: broad use of people\u2019s data unless they actively turn it off.<\/p>\n

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