Meta’s Muse AI: How to Stop Your Instagram Photos From Being Used for AI Training

If you’ve used Instagram for any length of time, you’ve probably posted dozens or hundreds of photos of yourself, your family, and your daily life. Now Meta has launched a new image-generation tool called Muse that can train on those very photos. The tool, released in July 2026, has drawn immediate criticism from privacy advocates and the actors’ union SAG‑AFTRA, which is urging its members to opt out.

Here’s what’s happening, why it matters, and—most importantly—how you can stop your Instagram photos from being fed into Meta’s AI.

What’s happening

Meta’s Muse is an image-generation AI similar to DALL·E or Midjourney, but with a twist: it can be trained on real user photos from Instagram. Meta says the tool is meant to help people create custom images and avatars, but the training data includes public photos that users have uploaded. According to news reports, the default setting allows Meta to use your photos for training unless you manually opt out.

Shortly after launch, SAG‑AFTRA—the union representing actors and performers—publicly recommended that its members turn off the Muse AI feature. “Take action to protect your likeness,” the union said in a statement, citing concerns about unauthorized use of members’ images in AI-generated content.

Why it matters

The core issue is control over your own likeness. When a company trains an AI on your photos, the AI can learn to generate new images that mimic your appearance, expressions, and style. You may not have given explicit consent for that. Even if you’re not a celebrity or a union member, your digital likeness has value—and you should have a say in how it’s used.

Privacy experts also point out that once your images are part of a training set, it’s difficult to undo. Meta’s terms—which you agreed to when you signed up for Instagram—likely allow them to use your content in ways that are still being tested in courts and regulatory hearings. For now, the safest step is to opt out.

What readers can do: how to opt out on Instagram

Meta has made the opt-out setting available, though it’s not in the most obvious place. Here’s how to find it:

  1. Open Instagram and go to your profile.
  2. Tap the menu icon (three lines) in the top right.
  3. Select Settings and privacy.
  4. Scroll down to Privacy and tap it.
  5. Look for Muse AI (it may also appear as “Muse Image Generation” or “AI features” depending on your app version).
  6. Toggle the switch to off.

That’s it. Once you turn off this setting, Meta should stop using your future photos to train Muse. But what about your old photos?

Can you retroactively protect them? At this point, Meta has not announced a way to remove existing photos from already-trained models. Some companies in the past have allowed users to request deletion of data, but it’s not clear how that will work for Muse. If you want to be safe, you may also consider auditing your public Instagram posts and removing anything you’d rather not have used for AI. However, that will not affect data that’s already been ingested. The opt-out primarily prevents future training.

What about children’s photos?

If you post photos of minors, the concern is even greater. Meta’s privacy policies generally treat children’s data with additional restrictions, but it’s wise to err on the side of caution. Make sure any accounts for kids under 13 are set to private, and consider not posting identifying images of children in public feeds.

Staying informed

The AI landscape is changing fast, and companies periodically update their policies. Check your Instagram settings every few months, especially after major app updates. SAG‑AFTRA and groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation are good sources for updates on digital likeness rights. You can also follow news outlets that cover tech privacy—like the Yahoo Finance article that broke this story.

Bottom line

Muse AI is a powerful tool, but you don’t have to hand over your photos without consent. A few taps in your Instagram settings can limit how Meta uses your images. While you can’t undo past training, you can stop it from happening going forward. That’s a small step, but it puts the control back where it belongs: with you.

Sources:

  • “What Meta’s Muse AI image tool means for Instagram privacy,” Yahoo Finance, July 10, 2026.
  • “SAG‑AFTRA Recommends Members Opt-Out Of Meta’s AI Feature,” Yahoo, July 10, 2026.
  • Instagram Help Center, “Muse AI and your data” (accessed July 2026).