If your Instagram account is public, your photos — including your profile picture — may now be fair game for other people's AI creations unless you change a setting buried in the app.
Meta's new Muse Image model, unveiled Tuesday, lets users generate AI images using public Instagram posts by tagging another person's account in a prompt.
Public accounts are opted in by default, allowing others to reuse posts, reels, and profile photos unless users manually switch the feature off.
The controls are only available in the Instagram app, under the "Sharing and reuse" tab in the settings menu, where users can disable separate toggles for posts and reels.
Existing AI-generated images made with your content won't be removed, and Instagram says on its help page about the feature that users won't be notified if their content is used by others.
The feature is part of Meta's broader push to compete in generative AI, as the company rolls out Muse Image to compete with rival image-generation tools from OpenAI, Google, Midjourney, and Adobe by making AI image creation a built-in feature for Instagram's billions of users.
The rollout is the latest flash point in Meta's long-running privacy battles. The company has faced years of scrutiny over its corporate and user-facing data practices, including criticism for using public posts to train AI models by default and requiring users to opt out rather than opt in.
Privacy advocates have long argued that such policies leave users with too little control over how their content is repurposed.
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Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert is a senior reporter on Business Insider's West Coast team. When she's not writing about trending business and tech news, from the latest supply chain snarls or advancements in AI, she covers the food and restaurant industries, specifically companies such as Starbucks and McDonald's.Some of her prior areas of focus have included coverage of the Supreme Court and emerging technologies such as quantum computing.Katherine has worked on award-nominated projects and has appeared on Good Morning America, NBC, CNN, and other outlets to discuss her reporting.Prior to joining Business Insider, she covered retail, hospitality, and nonprofits at the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and received a master's degree in investigative reporting from the University of Southern California.Reach outDo you have feedback or a story tip? Contact Katherine on Signal at byktl.50, or email her at [email protected].Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @scrawlgirl.Some of her recent scoops, exclusives, and original stories include: Starbucks set up a new office. It's a 5-minute drive from the CEO's California home.Inside Starbucks' crackdown on cup notesEndless Shrimp was Red Lobster's rock bottom. Now it's clawing back.Chipotle's new PAC signals a change in how the company engages in politicsKFC lost its footing in the Chicken Wars. Now it's gunning for a 'Kentucky Fried Comeback.'A few other highlights include: Clarence Thomas raised him 'as a son.' Now he's facing 25-plus years on weapons and drug charges.Call her Ivanka Kushner'Maybe I'll just resign:' Federal workers react to DOGE productivity emailSpaceX launches cause late-night booms that rattle windows, set off car alarms, and may damage property. Locals are pushing back.The US-China tech race is moving from chips to the raw materials they're made of
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