Meta AI will train on Facebook and Instagram data in Europe – here’s how to turn it off

Meta recently launched Meta AI in the European Union, although the company had to settle for an inferior experience compared to the rest of the world. By “launched,” I mean that Meta forced Meta AI on all European users whether they liked it or not. That colorful circular button is now present on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, getting a prime placement.

In some instances, the Meta AI button sits atop the UI, and you might tap it by mistake. I guess this would count as interacting with the AI.

If you thought that wasn’t great, you won’t like what’s coming next. Meta announced plans to start training Meta AI on all the content you generate in its apps. That means public content from apps like Facebook and Instagram, not private chats from WhatsApp and Messenger, which are already encrypted and can’t be accessed for AI training or other purposes.

Thankfully, Meta will let you opt out of training the AI, and you should do it immediately.

Meta laid out its plans in a blog post on Monday, explaining how the AI training will work.

Meta will use public posts and comments from adults in the EU, as well as their interactions with Meta AI, to improve its models.

It’s all starting next week when Europeans in the EU block will start receiving in-app notifications and emails explaining the data that Meta wants to use to train Meta AI and “how this will improve AI at Meta and the overall user experience.”