2026-07-07 20:31 UTCIn-site rewrite2 min readUpdated: 2026-07-07 20:41 UTC

Meta’s new Muse Image model can pull other Instagram users into AI photos

Meta launches the first AI image generation model from its Superintelligence Labs, Muse Image, now powering image tools across Meta AI, Instagram, and WhatsApp, coming soon to Facebook and Messenger. The agentic model works with Muse Spark LLM to reason, search, and plan before generating. Users can @mention other Instagram accounts to incorporate their likeness into AI images, and can also edit photos by drawing directly on them.

SourceThe Verge AIAuthor: Emma Roth

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Key points

Meta’s Superintelligence Labs releases Muse Image, its first AI image model, replacing Llama. It is agentic, working with Muse Spark LLM. Users can @mention Instagram accounts to include their likeness, with privacy controls. New features include room redesign from web images and direct drawing on photos; 30 new AI effects for Instagram Stories roll out first in the US.
Muse Image is part of the Muse family replacing Llama, with a planned Muse Video model teased by Alexandr Wang.

Why it matters

This matters because meta’s Superintelligence Labs releases Muse Image, its first AI image model, replacing Llama. It is agentic, working with Muse Spark LLM. Users can @mention Instagram accounts to include their likeness, with privacy controls. New features include room redesign from web images and direct drawing on photos; 30 new AI effects for Instagram Stories roll out first in the US.

Technical impact

May affect model selection, inference cost, product capability, and evaluation benchmarks.

This panel is AI-generated and reviewed for accuracy.

Meta is launching the first AI image generation model made by its Superintelligence Labs division. The Muse Image model now powers the image-making tools across the Meta AI app, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and it’s coming soon to Facebook and Messenger, according to an announcement on Tuesday. It’s part of the growing Muse family of AI models that replace Meta’s Llama lineup. Alexandr Wang, who Meta hired to head up its Superintelligence Labs last year, says on Threads that Muse Image is “agentic,” meaning it works with its Muse Spark large language model “to reason through your prompt, search the web, and plan before it generates.” Meta is also planning to launch a Muse Video model, which Wang teased, saying it’s “competitive on prompt adherence, visual fidelity, temporal consistency.” [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/muse-image-2.png?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/muse-image-1.png?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/muse-image-3.png?quality=90&strip=all] [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/muse-image-4.png?quality=90&strip=all] As noted by Meta, users can @ mention other Instagram accounts in Muse Image prompts, allowing the AI model to incorporate their likeness into its output. Meta says “tagging a username lets Meta AI use public photos to build a visual,” but notes that users can control how people reuse their content for AI. [Media: https://www.threads.com/@aiatmeta/post/DagPYDLiKHN] Users can also transform images using suggested prompts and create designs for things like invitations and postcards. Additionally, Muse Image can redesign rooms based on an image pulled from Facebook Marketplace (or elsewhere on the web), and allows users to make changes directly to photos by drawing right on top of them, which they can then share to their feed, story, or chat. The Muse Image model will power the 30 new AI effects coming to Instagram Stories in the US before rolling out to other countries and in more areas of Meta’s apps soon.