Elon Musk’s Twitter X (formerly known as Twitter) has added a setting that allows the network to use users’ information to train its Grok AI.
The new setting, which appears to be “on” by default for most users, allows the network to train Grok by collecting information not only from posts but also from other interactions with the site.
The new setting reads, “We may leverage user interactions, inputs, and results in X number of posts and/or Grok for training and fine-tuning purposes to continuously improve your user experience.”
“This means that your interactions, inputs and results may also be shared with our service provider, xAI, for these purposes.”
The company made the change with little fanfare, so it likely went unnoticed by many users, but Musk announced in an X post this week that the company had begun training Grok, promising that “by December of this year we will have the world’s most powerful AI, by any metric.”
What is Grok?
Grok is a chatbot similar to ChatGPT that is only accessible to X number of subscribers (Getty Images)
Grok is a chatbot (similar to ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude) that can be accessed via X, but only by subscribers.
Formerly known as TruthGPT, Grok was originally touted by Musk as “a truth-seeking AI that seeks to understand the nature of the universe.” Musk has promised that Grok is “anti-woke” and will offer a “Fun mode” and an “Unhinged Fun mode.”
Why is the new setting so controversial?
Similar changes at Meta (the owner of Facebook and Instagram) have sparked complaints from data rights groups. Meta emailed Facebook and Instagram users in May, warning them about changes aimed at using user data to develop AI.
Privacy activist Open Rights Group (ORG) said, “In its latest privacy policy update, Meta has stated its intention to provide all the data it holds (about its users) across Facebook and Instagram platforms for the purpose of training ‘AI technology.'”
“Meta also stated that it only uses ‘public posts,’ but its privacy policy contradicts this by excluding only private chats and including all personal data collected through these platforms.”
ORG has filed a complaint with regulators about the issue.
“As is common with online services, the new terms and conditions lack transparency. Also, since the AI will be trained with users’ personal information that they may not be aware of or fully understand, the changes have direct implications on users’ privacy,” said Veronika Pozdniakova, privacy expert at privacy-focused phone company Murena.
Users should regularly review and manage the data they share on these platforms, including posts, interactions, and direct messages. They may also opt out by abandoning platforms whose terms of use they do not agree with.”
How can you prevent your data from being used in this way?
You can’t change this setting on the mobile app, but you can withdraw your consent to your data being used in the desktop version of X on your Mac or PC.
To do this, go to your profile and go to Settings > Privacy and Safety > Data Sharing and Personalization.
Select Grok and toggle the slider to “Off.”