Meta removes feature that let users generate AI images from public Instagram posts

Zac Hall | Jul 10 2026 - 3:37 pm PT

Meta AI joined the image generation space this week. However, it did so with a controversial default setting that users found upsetting.

Meta’s tool allowed anyone to use public Instagram posts as a starting point for creating AI-generated images.

Instagram users needed to proactively turn off permission to avoid having their content easily tagged and used for AI image generation.

Meta has removed the feature altogether based on user feedback.

Dylan Byers at Puck shared a statement from Meta on the decision to pull the feature.

Statement from Meta:

Earlier this week, we announced that one way for people to generate images in Meta AI is by @-mentioning public Instagram accounts that they want to reference. Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their…
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) July 10, 2026