Meta removes face-recognition code from Meta AI app one day after WIRED report revealed it had been embedded in software used by more than 50 million phones

Meta's latest version of Meta AI stripped out code libraries and components tied to NameTag, an unreleased face-recognition system the company had quietly integrated into the app. The previous version, published the day of WIRED's report, contained several code libraries explicitly named for face recognition; Friday's release includes none of them.

NameTag was designed to convert faces captured by Meta's smart glasses into unique biometric signatures (called faceprints) and compare them against a database stored on the user's device. Faces the system failed to recognize were cropped, indexed, and stored locally for future processing.

Meta's VP of communications Andy Stone had dismissed WIRED's findings by stating the feature "does not exist" and declined to answer 10 questions about how the system would work, how long data is retained, or whether it was being built for blind or low-vision users. The company did not respond to privacy advocates' warnings that the system could enable stalkers and abusers to identify strangers in public.