Meta Platforms announced on Monday that it will use interactions from users with its AI, along with public posts and comments shared by adults on its platforms, to train its AI models in the European Union.
This move follows the company’s AI launch in Europe last month, which had been delayed due to concerns over data protection and privacy regulations.
Meta AI had been rolled out in the U.S. in 2023, but the European launch faced significant hurdles due to the EU’s strict privacy and transparency laws.
To comply with these regulations, Meta said that users in the EU who engage with its platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, will begin receiving notifications outlining how their data will be used. Users will also be provided with an option to object to their data being utilized for training purposes.
The data Meta plans to use includes user queries and questions directed at Meta AI, while private messages and data from users under the age of 18 will be excluded from training.
The company had initially paused its AI model launch in Europe last June following guidance from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), which advised against using social media posts for AI training. Meta also faced opposition from privacy advocacy group NOYB, which called on national regulators to prevent the use of such data.
In addition to Meta, other tech giants, including X (formerly Twitter) and Google, are under scrutiny by the DPC regarding their use of EU users’ data to train AI systems. X is being investigated over the use of personal data for its Grok AI model, while Google is facing an inquiry into its data protection practices related to its AI development.
