X (formerly Twitter) previously jumped on the AI bandwagon with its LLM-based conversational chatbot Grok, and now the company is adopting another popular technique in the burgeoning AI market: automatically opting in users to train the AI on the content they publish.
Fortunately, surprised users noticed the change, but they weren’t the only ones who didn’t expect the controversial move: As TechCrunch reports, it turns out that Elon Musk and his social media platforms also didn’t notify European authorities.
If you want to opt out of data collection, it’s very easy to do so, but you’ll need to do it from a desktop browser as the respective settings aren’t yet visible on the mobile apps.
Here’s how to opt out in just a few seconds:
Open X on your desktop. Select “More” on the left bar. Go to “Settings and Privacy.” Click “Privacy and Safety.” Select “Grok” at the bottom of the list. Uncheck the box that allows data collection.
The move could not only undermine trust among some users, but could also land X in trouble with European authorities, as automatic opt-in could violate GDPR laws that protect the privacy of European citizens.
In fact, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which leads oversight of X’s compliance with the European Union’s GDPR, told TechCrunch that it was surprised by the platform’s decision. The commission has been in active contact with X on the matter, with the last messages exchanged on Thursday this week. The DPC has been made aware of this and has contacted X, expecting an explanation early next week.
It wouldn’t be unprecedented if X were to find itself in legal trouble in the EU: Meta recently faced similar issues when trying to harvest public content from Europeans, but backed down after EU authorities intervened.
By comparison, Meta planned to automatically opt users in, but the company notified users of its plans in advance and gave them the option to opt out (rather unuser-friendly) up front. But the EU was not impressed, and likely won’t be impressed with Musk’s X’s current actions either.