New Privacy Policy from Musk's X Allows AI Training Using Your Posts
Photo by Rubaitul Azad on Unsplash
Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) has announced a significant change to its privacy policy that will allow the company to use public posts for training artificial intelligence (AI) models. This policy shift, effective from September 29, will enable X to collect and utilize publicly available user information, such as tweets, to help train its machine learning algorithms. However, Musk has clarified that this will not include private data like direct messages .
The decision aligns with Musk’s broader AI ambitions, especially through his new AI venture, xAI, which aims to advance understanding of complex topics. xAI is expected to work closely with X, and the data harvested from users’ public posts could play a role in developing these AI models .
Musk’s move comes as X explores new revenue streams, particularly as its advertising income declines. AI model training requires vast datasets, and user-generated content on platforms like X is a valuable resource. Other companies, like Meta, have introduced similar practices, though they offer opt-out options for users . However, X has yet to confirm whether it will offer such an option. This policy shift has raised concerns about privacy and how social media platforms may further monetize user data.