X Rolls Out Default Setting to Train AI Grok With User Data Without Prior Announcement

You'll need to access your settings on the web rather than the X app to disable your posts being used to train Grok.

By Hannah Adkins

Did you know that Grok button at the bottom of X (formerly Twitter) actually serves a purpose other than being something to accidentally click on out of a muscle memory forced click seeking the search button? Me either, and that probably would have continued to be the case if Grok hadn't told on itself. X has introduced a default setting that allows the once-great platform to use user data to train its AI chatbot, Grok – without making any prior announcement informing users of this setting, and making the setting only accessible through desktop rather than the phone app (which is how most people use the platform). 

Before we get into how Grok told on itself, here's what you need to do if you don't want the endless stream of thoughts you post to train the AI chat bot: navigate to "Settings and Privacy" and then "Privacy and Safety" to find and unselect the "Grok" option under "Data Sharing and Personalization" to opt out. 

Since being discovered in the user settings, the Safety on X account has released a statement: "All X users have the ability to control whether their public posts can be used to train Grok, the AI search assistant. This option is in addition to your existing controls over whether your interactions, inputs, and results related to Grok can be utilized. This setting is available on the web platform and will soon be rolled out on mobile. This privacy option is available under the same Privacy settings accessible to every X user, making it easily accessible with just a few clicks."

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It's too little, too late to many, however, as can be seen in the replies to the Safety on X post. As many users are pointing out, it's clearly not ideal to roll out such a significant default privacy setting without warning platform users of the change first. The sentiment shared by the majority of the replies is succinctly summarized by one user in the replies in particular, @GarrettMS, who states, "You really should not roll out an opt out feature that is not accessible on mobile. That is a short-sighted move at best and nefarious one at worst."

The Grok debacle is only the latest of changes to the platform that have been implemented since Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, most of which are not well-received and leave users pondering "Who asked for this?" 

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