Meta has announced a major step in advancing its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities by beginning to train its models using public data shared by adults across its platforms in the European Union (EU). This move comes nearly a year after Meta paused similar efforts due to data protection concerns raised by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission.
According to Meta, training its generative AI models on public posts, comments, and interactions will enable them to better understand and reflect the diverse cultures, languages, and histories of users in Europe. This excludes private messages and content from users under the age of 18.
Starting this week, users across the EU will receive in-app and email notifications detailing the type of data that will be used and how it contributes to improving AI features across Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Importantly, users will have the ability to opt out via a form linked in the notification, and Meta has committed to honoring all objection requests, both past and new.
This development follows approval from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), confirming Meta’s compliance with the region’s strict data privacy regulations. The company also emphasized its transparency and alignment with industry standards, noting that tech giants like Google and OpenAI have similarly used European user data for AI model training.
In tandem with Meta’s update, Apple recently shared how it enhances features like Genmoji and Visual Intelligence using differential privacy and synthetic data — a method that doesn’t require real user content and focuses on privacy preservation.
Together, these moves highlight the growing importance of regional data in shaping AI technologies, while also reflecting tech companies’ efforts to align innovation with evolving global privacy expectations.
