Have you wondered what happens to your social media account after you die? The accounts stay inactive, eventually getting forgotten into oblivion. Meta, however, has a technology that can prevent your friends and family from forgetting your presence. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has been granted a patent for an AI-powered system that could create a digital stand-in for users, allowing their social media accounts to remain active by mimicking their behaviour — including after prolonged inactivity or even death.
The patent, originally filed in 2023 and granted in late December 2025, describes using a large language model (LLM) trained on a user’s historical platform data — such as past posts, comments, likes, reactions, and interactions — to replicate how they would engage online. The AI could automatically like content, post comments, respond to direct messages (DMs), and potentially simulate video or audio interactions to keep the account lively and maintain engagement for followers and friends.
The patent filing explicitly addresses scenarios of user absence. “The language model may be used for simulating the user when the user is absent from the social networking system, for example, when the user takes a long break or if the user is deceased.” It highlights that the impact of a deceased user’s permanent absence is “much more severe and permanent,” as they can never return, potentially disrupting the experience for their network. Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, is listed as the primary inventor on the patent.
Meta has ‘no plans to move forward’
Despite the patent’s provocative implications, Meta has highlighted that it does not intend to build or deploy this technology. A company spokesperson told Business Insider, “We have no plans to move forward with this example.” The statement notes that patents are often filed to protect ideas and disclose concepts, but a granted patent does not guarantee development or productisation.
This clarification aims to address concerns sparked by the patent’s focus on posthumous simulation, often referred to in broader discussions as part of “grief tech” or digital afterlife tools.
Critics have ethical, philosophical, and grief concerns
Edina Harbinja, a professor at the University of Birmingham specialising in digital rights and post-mortem privacy, described the patent as touching on “not just legal issues, but a lot of very important social, ethical, and deeply philosophical issues as well.” She pointed out potential business motivations, “It’s more engagement, more content, more data — more data for the current and the future AI.” Harbinja added that the patent signals the technology moving into the mainstream.
Joseph Davis, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, raised concerns about its impact on mourning: “One of the tasks of grief is to face the actual loss,” he said, urging, “Let the dead be dead.” He warned that such imitations could create confusion rather than comfort. Justin Harrison, founder of You, Only Virtual (a grief tech startup), expressed less surprise, viewing big tech’s interest as a sign of growing acceptance. He argued for improving support for the grieving, stating, “We have a moral obligation, if we have the potential, to do more for those folks.”
Meta already offers tools like Facebook’s “Legacy Contact,” introduced about a decade ago, which allows users to designate someone to manage or memorialise their account after death.
The patent echoes earlier comments from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In a 2023 interview with Lex Fridman, he suggested potential benefits: “If someone has lost a loved one and is grieving, there may be ways in which being able to interact or relive certain memories could be helpful.”