Meta to start using public posts on Facebook, Instagram in UK to train AI

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms will begin training its AI models using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram in the UK over the coming months, the company said, after it had paused the training in the region following a regulatory backlash.

The company will use public posts including photos, captions and comments to train its generative artificial intelligence models, it said on Friday, adding that the training content will not include private messages or information from accounts of users under the age of 18.

The update follows Meta's decision in mid-June to pause the launch of its AI models in Europe after the Irish privacy regulator told the company to delay its plan to harness data from social media posts.

The company had then said the delay would also allow it to address requests from Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

"Since we paused training our generative AI models in the UK to address regulatory feedback, we've engaged positively with the ICO ... this clarity and certainty will help us bring AI at Meta products to the UK much sooner," Meta said on Friday.

Facebook and Instagram users in the UK will start receiving in-app notifications from next week explaining the company's procedure and how users can object to their data being used for the training, Meta added.

Meta has made changes to its approach since it paused the plans in June, the ICO said in a statement, adding the company has simplified the way users can object to the processing of their data and has extended the window in which they can do so.

In June, Meta's plans faced backlash from advocacy group NOYB, which urged national privacy watchdogs across Europe to stop such use of social media content, saying the notifications were insufficient to meet EU's stringent privacy and transparency rules.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Alan Barona)