Facebook parent company Meta has announced that it will now start to train its AI models using users’ data in the EU, after it was previously forced to suspend its plan due to regulatory requirements.

This means that the company will now use data such as posts and comments on Facebook and Instagram, an initiative which was previously put on hold because of data privacy concerns.

Meta will start the initiative this week

The social media company announced on Monday that it will commence training its AI models using its users’ content in the EU starting this week. The company will also use users’ interactions with Meta AI during the process.

According to TechCrunch, the announcement has come immediately after launching limited versions of Meta AI in the EU in March this year, well after it launching in other markets in other global markets.

Users in the EU will, starting from this week, begin to receive some notifications by email and in-app explaining what the social media giant intends to do. The notifications will inform users in the EU that the company will now start using public data and interactions with Meta AI to train its AI models.

According to the company, these notifications will include a link to a form that will enable users to opt out of their data being used, as the company wants to honor all objection forms it has already received, together with newly submitted ones.

“Last year, we delayed training our large language models using public content while regulators clarified legal requirements.”

Meta

“We welcome the opinion provided by the EDPB in December, which affirmed that our original approach met our legal obligations. Since then, we have engaged constructively with the IDPC and look forward to continuing to bring the full benefits of generative AI to people in Europe,” added Meta.

Regulatory requirements forced Meta to halt its plans in EU

While Meta has been training its models on user-generated content in the US for some years, it has not been the case in the UK and Europe. The company has faced tough resistance due to the bloc’s tough privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR requires a clear legal basis for processing personal data to train AI models.

The company revealed in June last year that it was going to pause its plans in the UK and EU after a pushback from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which regulates the company in the EU. The DPC was acting on behalf of several data protection authorities across the EU.

Three months later, Meta said it was reviving efforts to train its AI systems using public posts from its UK users, after incorporating “regulatory feedback.”

Now, with the latest developments to resume the programme, the company allayed fears of misuse of private data, especially with regard to minors.

Meta indicated it will not use private messages, nor public data from users under the age of 18 in the EU.

“We believe we have a responsibility to build AI that’s not just available to Europeans, but is actually built for them,” said Meta.

“That’s why it’s so important for our generative AI models to be trained on a variety of data so they can understand the incredible and diverse nuances and complexities that make up European communities.”

Meta.

“That means everything from dialects and colloquialisms, to hyper-local knowledge and the distinct ways different countries use humor and sarcasm on our products,” added the social media firm.

Meta also added that it was following examples set by other firms like Google and OpenAI that have already used information from the EU to train models using data from EU users.

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