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Meta just launched a new AI generator, Muse Image, and users are already pushing back over use of their photos
3:18 PM PDT · July 7, 2026
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Meta on Tuesday unveiled Muse Image, its new AI image generator built by Meta Superintelligence Labs, the company’s dedicated AI unit. The feature, which was internally code-named Mango, is now available for free through the Meta AI app, as well as on Instagram Stories and WhatsApp.
Unfortunately, the new model is already causing controversy.
What exactly can you do with Muse? It sounds like the use cases are similar to most other AI image generators — you’ll be able to create plenty of goofy, cartoonish images, for instance.
If you’re short on inspiration and can’t come up with original prompts on your own, Meta says that Muse comes with “presets” — prefabricated image prompts — to “spark ideas.”
However, a particularly eyebrow-raising feature allows users to manipulate another Instagram user’s images with AI, as long as that user’s profile is public. Users merely tag the person, and it allows them to take their picture and use it to create a new AI image.
Said one X user after The Verge first pointed out how potentially invasive this is, “Pulling real users into generated photos without explicit consent is a privacy landmine waiting to detonate.”
Meta policy states that “people may be able to create content with your Instagram content using AI features at Meta” and that “You will not be notified about content created using AI features at Meta.”
Meta claims users “have control” over this feature, noting that there are settings you can use to disable this kind of co-option of your pictures if you want to.
Muse has other, less invasive applications. One is creating custom ads (AI has notably crept into advertising over the past year). Another is experimenting with interior decorating ideas — in a promotional video, a user leverages Muse to see what a secondhand couch might look like in their garage. This last function is designed to integrate with Facebook Marketplace, Meta’s popular Craigslist-like locus of used furniture and accessories.
The model also features prompt-based image editing, which lets users create images to share across Meta’s apps and platforms
“Ask it to mock up an image of you in front of a historical landmark, cleanly erase a photobomber from the background of a shot, or write a custom prompt to build a functional QR code,” the company offers.
At the same time, Meta is launching a host of new AI effects for Instagram Stories, powered by Muse — notably, the same platform at the center of the photo-tagging concerns above. Those effects include customizable filters that can modify existing photos.
Meta says use of the new AI model is free for “everyday creation,” though users will need a subscription plan once they exceed a certain limit.
The company also said Muse Video — presumably an AI video generator — is “already in development.” TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for more information.
Meta has released a number of AI apps and services over the past year, including an AI assistant called Creator, and Pocket, an app that can be used to vibe code video games. The company has been accused of having a nebulous AI strategy, although it’s still on track to spend a whole lot on AI infrastructure this year as it continues to build out its services.
Meta’s privacy record is one reason for users’ unease over Muse. The company paid a then-record $5 billion fine to the FTC in 2019, after regulators found that the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly harvested data from tens of millions of Facebook users — without their knowledge — to build voter-targeting profiles ahead of the 2016 U.S. election. Facebook had known about the data misuse for years before it became public.
Separately, the company shut down Facebook’s facial-recognition system in 2021 — a tool that had automatically recognized people in photos and videos — amid lawsuits and regulatory pressure over its collection of biometric data. Basically, Muse’s photo-tagging feature, which is opt-out by default, fits a pattern users and regulators have flagged before: broad use of people’s data unless they actively turn it off.
Topics
AI, AI, Meta, Meta Superintelligence, Muse Image
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Lucas Ropek
Senior Writer, TechCrunch
Lucas is a senior writer at TechCrunch, where he covers artificial intelligence, consumer tech, and startups. He previously covered AI and cybersecurity at Gizmodo.
You can contact Lucas by emailing lucas.ropek@techcrunch.com.
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Discord admits AI moderation bug wrongfully banned users over harmless images
12:28 PM PDT · July 7, 2026
Discord has acknowledged that a bug in its AI moderation system mistakenly banned more than 8,000 users over the past two months, after harmless images—including spreadsheets, chessboards, game textures, as well as white and gray transparent backgrounds—were incorrectly flagged as harmful content.
The company confirmed that the issue had been affecting accounts since May, with an additional 200 users banned over the weekend before its team identified and fixed the problem. All affected accounts are currently in the process of being restored.
The incident highlights one of the growing challenges surrounding AI-assisted moderation as many platforms increasingly rely on automated systems to identify illegal or abusive material at scale.
In a detailed thread on X, Discord explained that its automated safety system works by matching uploaded content against databases of known harmful material. While the technology is designed to catch illegal content, the company acknowledged that it can sometimes generate false positives. A human moderator reviews the content, but a bug caused the system to immediately ban affected accounts.
“We’re working on better safeguards so this can’t happen again,” the company wrote.
Our systems flag content by matching it against known harmful material. This kind of similarity matching can produce false positives, which is why a member of our Trust & Safety team always reviews flagged content before any action is taken.
The intended behavior is to…
— Discord Support (@discord_support) July 7, 2026
Across X and Reddit, users have claimed they had been permanently suspended simply for uploading images containing square grid patterns. Several users speculated that Discord’s AI moderation tools have become increasingly sensitive to grid-like patterns because they have previously been used in attempts to obscure or disguise NSFW and child exploitation content from automated detection systems.
Affected users have been expressing frustration on social media, with some arguing that permanent account bans based solely on automated detection can have serious consequences, particularly for users who rely on Discord for work, gaming communities, or long-distance social connections.
“Losing a Discord account to something as unfair as this can be extremely devastating and affect users severely, and every day millions of users are affected by false AI bans. This needs to be stopped,” one X user wrote.
My account was wrongfully banned from your platform due to a bug in your AI automod detecting my GAME TEXTURES as CSAM. I need my account back as I’m a game director and use Discord for all my communication. I have requested a review of my suspension. @discord @discord_support pic.twitter.com/QfAkCIJo6S
— JDBRYANT 🎂 TODAY (@jdbryantdev) July 4, 2026
Discord isn’t alone in facing moderation troubles due to automated systems. Last year, users of Instagram and Facebook Groups reported widespread unexplained account suspensions that many believed were caused by AI moderation systems. Although users pointed to automation as the likely culprit, Meta never publicly confirmed whether AI errors were responsible. Now Meta’s Oversight Board is pushing for increased transparency.
Tumblr last year also faced complaints from users who said their accounts had been mass-suspended without clear explanations.
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Lauren Forristal
Lauren covers media, streaming, apps and platforms at TechCrunch.
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