Meta postpones launch of new artificial intelligence (AI) software in Europe

(Patria) - American digital giant Meta is postponing the launch of its new artificial intelligence (AI) software in Europe due to concerns from data protection agencies.

The Irish Data Protection Authority, responsible for Meta in the European Union, has asked the company not to train its artificial intelligence models on publicly available posts from Facebook and Instagram for now.

Without training on local content, Meta cannot offer users in Europe the best experience, the company stated in a blog post on Friday.

At the same time, Meta said it is confident that its approach complies with European laws and regulations.

Meta is not the only one training artificial intelligence, "and we are more transparent than many others in our industry," the company stated.

The decision to postpone came after criticism that Meta only provided people with the option to object to the use of their data, but did not ask for their explicit consent.

Data protection activists from the NOYB organization then filed complaints in 11 countries last week and criticized Meta for a "hidden and misleading" procedure.

Meta initially claimed there was a "legitimate interest" in training artificial intelligence models and that only publicly available content from adult users should be used for this purpose.

The Irish Data Protection Authority welcomed Meta's decision to postpone its plans in Europe late last week.

With its Meta AI software, the company competes against other programs, such as the chatbot ChatGPT.

Meta AI is designed to generate text and images and answer user questions. Meta has consistently emphasized in recent months that artificial intelligence will significantly change social platforms.

At the same time, Meta said it intends to continue bringing AI functionalities to Europe.