Meta Navigates AI Roll-Out Challenges Amidst EU Privacy Concerns

Meta Platforms is using user interactions and public posts to train AI models in the EU, following privacy concerns. Though launched in the US in 2023, European deployment was delayed due to strict privacy rules. Notifications clarify data use, excluding private messages and under-18 public posts.

Meta Platforms announced it will utilize user interactions and public posts by adults to train its AI models in the European Union, as part of its recent AI technology launch in the region. The deployment, originally scheduled for June 2024, faced delays over regulatory concerns regarding data protection and privacy.

The initiative, previously rolled out in the United States in 2023, encountered significant hurdles in Europe due to strict privacy and transparency rules. European users of Meta platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will start receiving notifications explaining the types of data being used and providing a means to object.

The company will refrain from using data from private messages or accounts of users under 18 in training. This decision followed advisement from Ireland's Data Protection Commission and backlash from advocacy groups. Similar scrutiny is faced by Elon Musk's X and Google regarding AI data use.

(With inputs from agencies.)