Meta's Muse Image Model Brings Instagram Users Into AI-Generated Photos

Meta's Superintelligence Labs has launched Muse Image, its first AI image generation model, now powering tools across Meta AI, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The model introduces 'agentic' generation and a controversial feature that lets users tag — and pull in — other Instagram accounts into AI photos.

Meta has unveiled Muse Image, the first AI image generation model to emerge from its Superintelligence Labs division. The model now powers image-creation tools across the Meta AI app, Instagram, and WhatsApp, with Facebook and Messenger support coming soon.

Part of a Broader Model Overhaul

Muse Image is part of Meta's expanding Muse model family, which is gradually replacing the company's earlier Llama lineup. Alexandr Wang, whom Meta hired to lead Superintelligence Labs last year, described the model on Threads as "agentic" — meaning it works alongside Meta's Muse Spark large language model to reason through prompts, search the web, and plan before generating an image.

Tagging Other Instagram Users in AI Photos

One of the model's most notable — and contentious — features is the ability to tag other Instagram users in AI-generated images, pulling their likeness into the output. This raises immediate questions around consent and potential misuse.

Key capabilities of Muse Image include:

Agentic generation: Reasons and plans before producing output
Web search integration: Can reference real-time content during generation
Cross-platform rollout: Live on Meta AI, Instagram, and WhatsApp; Facebook and Messenger to follow
Instagram user tagging: Allows other accounts to be incorporated into generated images

Superintelligence Labs Takes Center Stage

The launch marks the first public-facing output from Meta's Superintelligence Labs, the division Meta has been aggressively building out with high-profile hires and significant investment. It signals that the lab is moving from internal R&D into direct product deployment at scale.

With Meta's platforms collectively reaching billions of users, Muse Image's rollout represents one of the largest deployments of an agentic image model to date.