Meta announced that it will begin training its AI models on public content from Facebook and Instagram users in the European Union. This includes posts and comments, as well as user interactions with Meta AI. The move comes after the company previously paused its data usage plans in response to regulatory concerns over privacy.
A limited version of Meta AI launched in the EU last month, following its earlier rollout in the U.S. and other international markets.
In contrast to the U.S., where Meta has long used user-generated content to train its AI, the EU has posed regulatory hurdles due to its stringent privacy framework—particularly the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires a legal basis for processing personal data.
Back in June 2024, Meta halted its plans to use EU and U.K. user data after objections from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), the lead regulator for Meta in the EU. However, in September 2024, the company resumed its efforts in the U.K., using public posts for AI training. Now, Meta is extending those efforts to users in the EU.
“Last year, we delayed training our large language models using public content while regulators clarified legal requirements,” Meta stated in a blog post. “We welcome the opinion provided by the EDPB in December, which affirmed that our original approach met our legal obligations.”
The company says it has worked closely with the DPC since then and will begin notifying users in the EU via email and in-app messages starting this week. These notices will inform users that Meta will begin using public content and interactions with Meta AI to train its models. Each notification will include a link to a form allowing users to opt out. Meta will also honor any previously submitted objections.
Importantly, Meta clarified that it will not use private messages or public data from users under the age of 18 in the EU for training purposes.
“We believe we have a responsibility to build AI that’s not just available to Europeans, but is actually built for them,” the company said. “To do that, our generative AI models need to be trained on diverse data that reflect Europe’s rich languages, cultures, and humor.”
Meta added that it is following in the footsteps of companies like Google and OpenAI, both of which have already used European user data to train their AI systems.
Meanwhile, the Irish DPC continues to investigate how AI companies train their language models. Just last week, the regulator launched an inquiry into xAI’s handling of user data in the development of its chatbot, Grok.
