The social media company Meta announced on Monday that it will resume using publicly available content from European users to train its artificial intelligence models. This decision comes after pausing the work last year due to concerns raised by activists regarding data privacy. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, stated that it will utilize public posts and comments from adult users in the European Union for training its AI systems. Additionally, interactions with Meta AI, such as questions and queries, will also be used to enhance the AI models.
Meta recently introduced its Meta AI assistant for European users, following its launch in the United States and other major markets. The company had faced challenges in its AI training efforts due to strict European Union data privacy laws that prioritize individuals’ control over their personal information. Viennese group NOYB, led by activist Max Schrems, had raised objections to Meta’s AI training plans and called on privacy watchdogs to intervene.
Meta emphasized that it will not use private messages for AI model training and pointed out that its approach aligns with practices of competitors like Google and OpenAI, who have also utilized data from European users. The company will inform EU users about the training process and provide a link to an objection form for users to raise concerns at any time. Meta assured that it will respect all objections submitted by users.
