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The European data protection authority wants to acquire “clarity” on Elon Musk’s X’s decision to permit the automated feeding of user data into his AI start-up xAI, thereby subjecting the social media platform to renewed regulatory scrutiny.
X users noted on Friday that they’d opted to have their posts on the location, in addition to their interactions with the Grok chatbot, used to “train and fine-tune” the xAI systems.
The move was made without first obtaining users' explicit consent to share data. The setting can only be modified within the desktop version of X, so users cannot currently opt out via the mobile apps.
The Irish Data Protection Commission, which is answerable for ensuring that web firms comply with EU data protection laws, said it had been in talks with X “for months” to debate its plans to make use of its users' data to develop artificial intelligence. The regulator sent the corporate questions on “transparency for users” and other issues just on Thursday, it said.
“We were surprised that they introduced this,” a spokesman for the regulator said, adding that the agency asked further questions on Friday to get “clarity” from X on the matter.
Privacy experts have questioned whether X's actions could breach the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, which requires firms that collect or use personal data to first obtain consent from the person and disclose the rationale for doing so. If the Irish regulator opens an investigation into the GDPR, X could face fines or penalties.
Meta last month paused a plan to coach its AI using data from its Facebook and Instagram platforms in Europe after the Irish data protection authority raised an inquiry about its GDPR compliance. This was “a step backwards for European innovation and competition in AI development,” Meta said.
Musk bought X for $44 billion in 2022 and has faced increasing scrutiny from regulators world wide as he cut staff and moderation capability and made sudden product changes. The EU Commission is already investigating the corporate over alleged transparency and moderation issues that violate its Digital Services Act.
“All X users can control whether their public contributions will be used to coach Grok, the AI search assistant,” X's security account wrote on Friday. “This option is along with your existing controls over whether your interactions, inputs, and results will be utilized in reference to Grok. This setting is out there on the internet platform and can soon be available on mobile.” X didn’t reply to a request for comment.
The launch comes as Musk tries to get a head start on rivals akin to OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, whose most advanced models are currently “orders of magnitude” higher than xAI's, the billionaire said. Access to X's massive repository of user data would give xAI a key advantage. Grok, meanwhile, is accessible to X Premium subscribers.
Musk's corporate network has turn out to be increasingly interconnected, with engineers and other senior executives moving between his firms, and the serial entrepreneur is in search of approval from Tesla's board to speculate as much as $5 billion in xAI.
Some xAI investors have cited synergies with other Musk firms as a key advantage, while others have expressed concerns about potential conflicts.
