Meta has announced that it will begin using public user-generated content — such as posts and comments — to train its artificial intelligence models. The company, led by Mark Zuckerberg, shared the news on its official blog, where it also stated that user interactions with Meta AI, including questions and queries, will be used to improve its AI systems.
With this move, Meta is resuming its plans to use data from adult users to train its models, arguing that the decision will help “both people and businesses” better understand and reflect the cultures, languages, and histories they represent. Starting this week, users in the European Union will receive in-app and email notifications explaining which data will be used and how it will enhance their overall experience on Meta’s platforms.
However, the company emphasized that private messages exchanged between friends and family will not be used to train its generative AI, nor will the public data from accounts belonging to minors.
Additionally, the notifications will include a link to a form allowing users to object to the use of their data for training purposes.
The initiative comes after Meta recently rolled out Meta AI across the European Union, making it available on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. According to the company, the goal is to build AI not just accessible to Europeans, but also tailored specifically for them. “It’s essential for our models to be trained on diverse data so they can understand the rich cultural, linguistic, and social nuances that shape European communities — from dialects and colloquialisms to localized knowledge and the unique ways different countries use humor and sarcasm,” Meta explained.
The announcement marks the revival of a plan Meta had paused in the summer of 2024, when it halted the rollout of its models in Europe in response to strict regulations surrounding AI and user data. The move now follows a December ruling by the European Data Protection Board, which confirmed that Meta’s original approach met its legal obligations, and months of collaborative work with the Irish Data Protection Commission.
