The X social network’s decision to allow Elon Musk’s startup xAI to use user posts to train its artificial intelligence based on presumed consent may violate European privacy laws, the Financial Times reports.
On Thursday, X users discovered that they had “given consent” for their posts on the site and their conversations with the Grok chatbot to be used to “train and fine-tune” xAI’s AI. In fact, the users had not given their explicit prior consent. It can only be revoked in the desktop web version of X, and there is no such option in mobile apps yet.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Potential GDPR Violations
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), the regulator responsible for ensuring that large tech companies comply with European privacy laws, said it had been discussing with X for months the company’s plans to use user data to train its AI. Just on Thursday, the agency sent the company a series of questions, some of which concerned ensuring “transparency for users.” “When they started [collecting user data to train AI], it was a surprise to us,” a spokesperson for the commission said. On Friday, it sent X additional questions to “clarify” the situation.
It is believed that X’s actions violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The document requires that companies disclose the reasons for their actions and obtain consent from users before collecting user data. If the Irish regulator launches an investigation into possible violation of the GDPR, the social network could face punishment. In June, Meta abandoned plans to train its AI on posts from European Facebook and Instagram users due to the threat of violating the GDPR, but called the measure “a step back for European innovation, competition in AI development.”
X’s Response and Future Developments
“All X users have the ability to control whether their public posts can be used to train Grok, the AI search assistant. This option is in addition to your existing controls for whether all your interactions, inputs, and results related to Grok can be used. This setting is available on the web platform and will soon be rolled out to mobile devices,” the X security account said in a post.
Since buying Twitter (now X) in 2022, Elon Musk has faced scrutiny from regulators around the world for drastically cutting staff, including moderators, and making other changes to the company. The social network is currently under investigation for allegedly violating the European Digital Services Act due to moderation and transparency issues.
Musk is eager to catch up and release an AI that rivals OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, and X’s user data resource will give xAI an edge, although Grok is only available to premium subscribers. Musk’s companies are increasingly integrated with each other — for example, he is currently seeking approval from Tesla’s board to invest $5 billion in xAI. Some investors in the startup cite its synergies with the billionaire’s other projects as a major advantage, while others have expressed concerns about potential conflicts of interest, notes NIXSolutions.
We’ll keep you updated on any developments regarding X’s data collection practices and the ongoing regulatory investigations.