Did Meta’s own AI help hack into Instagram users’ accounts? | Explained

Key points

• The story so far: In May, a number of Instagram users were locked out of their accounts by hackers.
• Many of the affected users took to other social media platforms like Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) to post their complaints.
• Screen recordings later circulated online suggested that their Instagram accounts were hacked with the help of Meta’s own AI support chatbot.
• Adding to the users’ worries was the lack of transparency from Meta’s side about the security lapse, fuelling fears of an AI-enabled hack.
• How were users’ Instagram accounts hacked?