Meta Pauses AI Training on EU User Data Amid Privacy Concerns

Meta has paused plans to train its large language models on public Facebook and Instagram content from EU users after the Irish Data Protection Commission and other regulators raised concerns about the company relying on 'legitimate interests' rather than explicit opt-in consent under GDPR. The delay follows scrutiny from the UK ICO and complaints from privacy group noyb alleging GDPR violations over use and potential sharing of user data for AI training; Meta says it is cooperating with regulators and argues that using local data is necessary to deliver a competitive AI experience in Europe.