Longtime users of X (formerly Twitter) got a nasty surprise on Friday when they learned that a new setting on the platform was choosing to use AI training on their posts and interactions. This means that Grok, X’s AI platform, can suck up this data by default and learn from it unless you change your settings to prevent it.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; X changed its terms of service to make this possible. Last year, the service began collecting biometric data, as well as employment and school history, as part of a move to use publicly available data to train its AI. But now, user settings have opted into this as a default option, at least on the platform’s desktop version. x artificial intelligence.
Learn more: How to Opt Out of Instagram and Facebook Using Your Posts for AI
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The text in the settings under Data Sharing reads, “Allow us to use your posts, as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok, for training and fine-tuning.” The text below notes that data can also be shared with X’s “service provider xAI” for these purposes. The page also includes an option to “delete conversation history.”
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the change.
Training AI systems on user data has become a controversial practice, with companies like Apple, OpenAI, and Meta under scrutiny for training AI without permission or in ways that are not obvious to users. AI systems increasingly need more data to develop and update their models, and tech companies are looking for new sources of information to feed them. Some experts say this could lead to a data shortage in the next few years. In Europe, where technology restrictions are more prevalent, companies like Meta and Apple are hiding some of their AI features.
How to opt out
To opt out of X’s Grok training, you need to use the desktop version of X, go to Settings, select Privacy and security, and select Grok under Data sharing and Personalization.
So far, there is no such opt-out option on the mobile version of X.
If you manage multiple accounts on the platform, you will need to disable each one individually.
