The development of artificial intelligence is among the top priorities for major technology companies. However, this process often draws criticism regarding the sources of the data used and respect for privacy. Most recently, Elon Musk’s social media platform X came under the spotlight for using European users’ data without permission to train its AI tool, Grok. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has initiated legal proceedings against the X platform.
DPC Finds X Platform’s User Notification Insufficient
The DPC stated that X’s use of European users’ data in AI training without their explicit consent violates the European Union’s general data protection regulations. This situation shows that the setting introduced by the X platform in July, which would allow users to decide whether to permit the use of their data in AI training, is insufficient. Allegedly, when this feature is enabled by default, users are not adequately informed.
This insufficient notification is criticized by the DPC, and the commission emphasizes that the platform needs to be more transparent about how it will use users’ data. Although X has offered users the option to disable this setting so far, the DPC believes these measures are not sufficient. The Commission is requesting the court to temporarily stop or completely ban the use of user data for AI training by X. If the court rules in favor of the DPC, serious financial sanctions could be applied to the X platform, potentially leading to significant changes in data usage policies among tech giants.