Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is using user data to train its AI chatbot, Grok, by default. Users have noticed that they must opt out to prevent their data from being used. The option to opt out can be found in X’s privacy settings, though it’s currently only available on the mobile web and desktop, with mobile app support coming soon.
X’s Safety account recently tweeted that all users can control whether their public posts are used to train Grok. However, it did not specify when this data collection began or when the opt-out option was introduced. X’s privacy policy has permitted this data usage since at least September 2023.
Using user data to train AI is becoming more common. For example, Meta also uses user content for AI training, and Adobe faced backlash for updating its terms to allow similar practices, though Adobe quickly promised not to train AI on creators’ content.
To opt out of having your posts used to train Grok, follow these steps on mobile web or desktop:
- Click or tap “More” in the navigation panel.
- Click or tap “Settings and privacy.”
- Click or tap “Privacy and safety.”
- Scroll down and click or tap “Grok” under “Data sharing and personalization.”
- Uncheck the box labeled “Allow your posts as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok to be used for training and fine-tuning,” which is checked by default.
Alternatively, you can directly access the settings page via a link and uncheck the box with one click. If you’ve used the chatbot, you can also delete your conversation history with Grok here.
