Grok chatbot trains with X consumer knowledge and ‘very possible’ violates EU legislation

Elon Musk could once again have a problem with the European Union.

Musk's X has made it possible to train the chatbot Grok with data from any user. This feature is now enabled by default, which may violate EU rules.

Deep in X's settings, users discovered evidence of data collection. Next to a checkbox that was already checked, they discovered the following text: “Allow Grok to use your posts, interactions, inputs, and results for training and fine-tuning.”

This approach could violate the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which prohibits companies from expanding data collection without informing users and offering them a clear opt-out option.

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According to the data protection group NOYB, it is “highly likely” that the setting violates the law.

“Twitter/X should have properly informed its users and asked for their consent,” the Vienna-based nonprofit told TNW. The group is currently reviewing the details of the data collection.

X and Grok are not alone

X's approach is reminiscent of a recent move by Meta. In June, the company was criticized for plans to train AI models using personal data – without obtaining users' consent.

NOYB filed complaints against the system in eleven EU countries. Meta then stated that it had a legitimate interest in using the data.

The tech giant argued that there was a legal basis for training artificial intelligence using publicly available information.

X could make a similar claim. Whether the EU agrees or not, users can opt out of the setting. But even that isn't particularly easy.

There is no clear way to opt out of data collection in the X mobile app, but fortunately the company has allowed opt-out in the web version.

You can either use this direct link or open X and navigate to Settings > Privacy & Security > Grok, then uncheck the box that sends your data to Elon's hungry bot.