“We’re disappointed by the request from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), our lead regulator, on behalf of the European DPAs, to delay training our large language models (LLMs) using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram — particularly since we incorporated regulatory feedback and the European DPAs have been informed since March,” he wrote. “This is a step backwards for European innovation, competition in AI development and further delays bringing the benefits of AI to people in Europe.”

Privacy advocacy group NOYB speculated that a flurry of complaints from it and other organizations led to the Irish DPC’s request.

But NOYB still has concerns. Max Schrems, the organization’s chair, said in a statement, “We welcome this development but will monitor it closely. So far, there has been no official change to the Meta privacy policy that would make this commitment legally binding. The cases we have filed are ongoing and will require an official decision.”