Meta launched Muse Image on July 7, 2026, an AI model designed to generate images from text prompts and edit photos, integrated into its Meta AI chatbot and social apps like Instagram and WhatsApp [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. The tool also allowed users to incorporate images from public Instagram accounts by tagging usernames, with an opt-out setting for users to prevent their photos from being reused or remixed by the AI [1, 2, 6, 7, 9].

Muse Image was the first AI image model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, led by Alexandr Wang, who also oversaw the April 2026 release of the Muse Spark language model [1, 2, 5, 6, 7]. Meta plans to invest approximately US$145 billion in AI this year and aims to monetize AI models through subscriptions and ad tools like Advantage Plus [1, 2, 5, 7]. It also intends to release Muse Video, an AI video generation model, in the coming months [2, 6, 7].

However, Muse Image quickly faced widespread criticism over privacy issues. Actors and Hollywood unions such as SAG-AFTRA condemned the automatic opt-in use of public photos without explicit consent [3, 4, 10, 9, 11, 12]. SAG-AFTRA urged users to opt out and called the feature "unwise" due to the risk of nonconsensual digital replicas [3, 4, 10, 12]. Actor Hannah Einbinder highlighted that the feature was turned on automatically and users were urged to disable it [3].

Meta announced on July 10 that it was discontinuing the Muse Image feature in response to the feedback and backlash [3, 4, 10, 11, 12]. A Meta spokesman said, "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. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available" [3]. SAG-AFTRA welcomed the decision, calling it "the responsible thing to do" [3].

The swift launch and withdrawal of Muse Image underscores the challenges Meta faces with AI-driven tools that use public data. Meta's next AI release, Muse Video, is expected to arrive in the coming months [2, 6, 7].