"You can also @-mention Instagram accounts in the Meta AI app to bring specific Instagram profiles right into your images," the social media giant said — and those mentions can, by default, let Meta reuse public Instagram photos and reels to generate new AI images.
Muse Image: Meta's image-first model from Superintelligence Labs
Meta has introduced Muse Image, its first image-focused AI model from Superintelligence Labs. According to the company, Muse Image "uses advanced reasoning to better understand complex prompts and blend multiple photos into high-quality creations for sharing across its platforms and elsewhere." The model is enabled by default and is built to power image generation and remixing across Meta's services.
@-mentioning public Instagram accounts and reuse rules
Meta said users of the Meta AI app can tag Instagram usernames to "bring specific Instagram profiles right into your images." When a public Instagram account is tagged, the system may reuse "part or all of your published photos, videos or reels" to create new reels, posts, or stories. Meta framed the capability as a convenience — "Whether you want to design a custom event invitation, mock up a collaborative creative concept, or generate a personalized graphic, tagging a username lets Meta AI use public photos to build a visual that's ready to post" — but the underlying mechanism converts public content into input for AI-generated media.
Privacy controls: how to turn off "Allow people to create with and reuse your content"
Meta says users retain control and can disable reuse of their Instagram content. The company provides a specific path to turn the feature off in Instagram settings:
- Open Instagram
- Go to your profile
- Tap the ☰ menu
- Open Settings and activity
- Tap Sharing and reuse
- Scroll to Allow people to create with and reuse your content
- Turn off: Posts and Reels
Meta explicitly recommended that "Instagram users with public profiles are recommended to turn off the setting," and warned that content created prior to disabling the setting "isn't deleted." The company emphasized the control exists, but the setting is opt-out rather than opt-in by default.
Notifications, search discoverability, and content-removal rules
The company’s help document clarifies several important limits. Users "will not be notified when their images are remixed using AI." Notifications will still be sent, Meta said, if "a public account reuses a user's content for remixes, sequences, stickers, and templates." The help document also notes that "people may be able to create content with your Instagram content using AI features at Meta" and that, "Depending on the settings of the other user, this means your reused content may be discoverable in search engine results."
Meta set one conditional deletion rule: if an account holder switches from public to private and keeps the account private for longer than 24 hours, "all reels, posts, and stories using their content will be deleted from Instagram." The company added the caveat that "already existing content created by others using the AI features will not be deleted."
Rollout: WhatsApp, Instagram now; Facebook, Messenger and advertisers soon
Muse Image is being embedded into both WhatsApp and Instagram to support AI-powered effects for Instagram Stories and image generation in direct chats with Meta AI on WhatsApp. Meta said these features are "rolling out in limited countries to start with." The company also said the feature is expected "to soon be available in Facebook, Messenger, and for advertisers through Meta Advantage+ creative."
What this means for advertisers, public Instagram users, and under-18 accounts
- Advertisers: Meta has signaled an upcoming push of Muse Image into advertising workflows via Meta Advantage+ creative, meaning ad creatives could soon incorporate AI-generated images that reuse public Instagram media.
- Public Instagram users: Anyone with a public profile should be aware that their posts, reels, and videos can be used by others for AI generation by default unless they follow the steps to disable reuse; content generated before disabling "isn't deleted." Users will not receive notifications when their images are remixed by AI.
- Under-18 accounts: Meta limited reuse for Instagram users under 18 with public accounts — only followers can reuse their media "if their account settings allow for reuse," adding a visibility constraint specific to minors with public profiles.
Meta positioned Muse Image as a capability for rapid creative iteration and sharing, but the operational details in its help documents make clear the balance it strikes: default-enabled reuse of public material, an opt-out setting buried in account menus, partial safeguards for minors, and limited post-hoc deletion if an account becomes private. Alongside recent moves by other companies — Google’s new Search Services History and "Personalized Recommendations" settings that can store media to "develop and improve Google's AI models and technologies" — the pattern in the public record is explicit: companies are increasingly embedding AI into everyday products and making data-use options opt-out rather than opt-in.
https://thehackernews.com/2026/07/metas-new-ai-image-tool-lets-others-use.html
