Meta says it will discontinue an AI feature that let people generate images using public Instagram accounts, reversing course after days of public criticism.
The company had rolled out the feature earlier this week. As The Verge describes it, any public Instagram account's content could be pulled into an AI creation simply by tagging that account — meaning users could produce AI images based on other people's posts without their involvement. The Verge characterized the resulting images as "deepfakes."
According to Variety's Corbin Bolies, Meta confirmed it would shut the feature down following the backlash. TechCrunch reported that Meta relayed the decision to Dylan Byers of Puck News, saying it had scrapped the tool after pushback from its own user base. The BBC noted that Meta's release "drew swift blowback," and outlets including The New York Times and NBC Bay Area reported the same reversal, with NBC Bay Area saying the image generator was no longer available.
The episode is a quick about-face: the feature was announced and pulled within roughly the same week. Coverage across sources consistently ties the withdrawal to sustained criticism rather than a technical problem, though the reporting does not detail exactly what internal review or specific complaints drove Meta's decision.
Why it matters: the reversal shows how fast user objections can force a major platform to retreat on AI tools, especially when a feature lets people generate images from others' accounts without clear consent.