• •Meta officially pulled the feature that allowed users to generate AI images using content from public Instagram accounts.
• •The tool permitted users to tag public accounts, which reportedly incorporated the account's photos into AI-generated outputs.
• •Meta has not clarified how the system handled opt-out requests or if previously scraped data will be purged from the underlying models.
• •The Verge confirmed the termination follows immediate, widespread criticism regarding unauthorized use of user-generated content.

Meta has disabled an Instagram feature that allowed users to generate AI imagery by tagging public accounts. This move follows the recent industry trend of integrating generative AI directly into social feeds, which previously relied on public data as a primary training and interaction source. However, the company faced immediate backlash over user autonomy and consent, forcing a rapid rollback of the integration. Whether this signals a broader shift in Meta's data-use policy for AI training remains to be seen as legal challenges mount regarding public data scraping.