Meta has announced on April 14, that it will begin training its artificial intelligence models using public content shared by adults on its platforms within the European Union, including posts and comments. 

According to Meta, the initiative follows the recent launch of Meta AI in Europe and marks a key step in the company's efforts to tailor its AI systems to European users.

In a statement, Meta said, "People's interactions with Meta AI – like questions and queries – will also be used to train and improve our models. This training, which follows the successful launch of Meta AI in Europe last month, will better support millions of people and businesses in the EU by teaching AI at Meta to better understand and reflect their cultures, languages and history."

Beginning this week, users in the EU will start receiving in-app and email notifications outlining what kind of data will be used and how it will contribute to improving Meta's AI services. These notices will also contain links to an objection form, allowing individuals to opt out of having their public data used in training, as per Meta.

The company also said it will honour all previously submitted objection requests as well as any new ones, and clarified that private messages exchanged between friends and family will not be included in training, nor will public data from users under the age of 18 in the EU.

Meta's move mirrors practices already employed by other major AI developers such as Google and OpenAI, both of which have used European data in model training. However, in a statement, Meta mentioned that it aims to be more transparent in its approach.

Last year, Meta paused the use of public content for AI training amid regulatory uncertainty. Following an opinion issued in December by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which confirmed Meta's original approach met legal standards, the company resumed its plans. Meta has since engaged with the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) and said it remains committed to ensuring compliance as it expands AI offerings in the region.