Meta pulls Muse Image's @-mention likeness feature three days after launch

Meta discontinued the @-mention feature in Muse Image on July 10, three days after it launched, following criticism from the talent agency CAA and the actors’ union SAG-AFTRA. The tool had let any user generate AI images referencing a public Instagram account by tagging it, with every public account opted in by default; users had to opt out or set their account to private to be excluded.

The reversal is a fast retreat on a flagship launch, and a concession to Hollywood at a moment when studios and unions are pressing platforms over AI likenesses. Muse Image is the first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, and Meta had wired it into Meta AI, Instagram and WhatsApp on July 7.

“We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available,” Meta said. The company also updated its original Muse Image announcement to reflect the removal.

CAA, whose clients include Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, and SAG-AFTRA had called the default opt-in a violation of members’ likeness rights — the same consent question that has dogged generative tools pointed at real people. Both argued that generating images from someone’s public account without explicit consent crosses that line.

Meta pulled only the @-mention capability; Muse Image itself remains available across Meta AI, Instagram and WhatsApp. The company has not said whether it will reintroduce account-referencing generation with an opt-in default, or drop the idea entirely.