WorkJuly 10, 2026via The Verge AI
Meta turns off the Instagram feature that let users make AI deepfakes of public accounts
Why it matters
Meta's rapid reversal on its AI image generation feature—which allowed users to create deepfakes of public figures without consent—signals growing regulatory and reputational pressure on AI product launches. This reflects a broader shift where AI ethics governance is no longer a post-launch consideration but a pre-launch requirement.
Key signals
- Feature announced and disabled within one week
- Allowed AI image generation from public Instagram accounts without owner consent
- Triggered significant public backlash
- Suggests Meta AI product governance gaps despite scale
- Reflects accelerating scrutiny of synthetic media and consent in AI products
The hook
Meta kills Instagram deepfake feature after 48 hours. The real story: AI product ethics are now moving at internet speed.
Following significant backlash, Meta is turning off the feature it announced this week that let users generate AI images based on content from public Instagram accounts just by tagging them. The feature, as originally set up, meant that content from any public Instagram account could be used in AI creations without the account owner's permission.
"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," Meta says in an update to a blog post about its new Muse Image AI model. "Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give pe …
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