You Can Now Make AI Content Using Public Instagram Accounts—And It’s Rattling Hollywood And Cybersecurity Experts
Publish Date: 2026-07-10 10:49:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Topline
Major Hollywood unions and talent agencies are urging the celebrities they represent to opt out of a controversial new feature on Instagram that allows users to create AI images based on posts by public accounts, while some cybersecurity companies are raising privacy concerns.
Meta unveiled its Muse Image tool for Instagram earlier this week. (Photo by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Key Facts
Instagram has faced backlash this week over Muse Image, an AI image generation tool it unveiled that allows users to create AI content based on images posted by public accounts, who are not notified when their posts are used for image generation.
Among the feature’s most controversial quirks is that it automatically opts users with public accounts into the program, meaning users have to manually opt out in their settings if they don’t want their photos used for AI image generation.
Meta, in response to backlash, has clarified users under 18 were automatically opted out of the feature and that it will “take action” against any content that violates its community standards.
The feature, though, has rattled users and cybersecurity experts who consider it a privacy violation, as well as Hollywood, which has already been grappling with the threat of AI using celebrities’ likenesses without consent.
Forbes has reached out to Meta for comment.
How Has Hollywood Responded To Instagram’s Muse Image Tool?
SAG-AFTRA, a major Hollywood union that represents more than 160,000 actors and entertainment industry professionals, urged its members to opt out of the Muse Image tool in a statement late Thursday. “Meta now lets anyone use your Instagram photos in AI images without your consent,” the union warned, urging members to opt out to “protect your likeness.” SAG-AFTRA has already been forced to confront AI, which was a major sticking point in its 2023 strike. Earlier this year, the union ratified a contract that restricts the use…
