X's AI to be trained on user posts, sparks backlash
X has updated its terms of service, a move that has sparked a significant backlash from its users. The revised terms, which will come into effect on November 15, give the company a global license to use user-generated content for a variety of purposes. This includes training its artificial intelligence and machine learning models. The change was quickly noticed by users who raised concerns about their creative work being used like this.
User concerns over AI training and data privacy
The updated terms say that by continuing to use X's services, users implicitly agree to their data being used for AI training. This has raised concerns among artists and other creative professionals about their work potentially being used to train AI models, that could replace human creators. Some users have also expressed worries about personal information in their posts being utilized this way, prompting some to start removing personal photos from their feeds.
Legal implications of X's updated terms
The revised terms also note that any disputes pertaining to these conditions will be dealt with by the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas, or state courts in Tarrant County, Texas. This is interesting because Judge Reed O'Connor, a Tesla investor who has overseen several lawsuits against Elon Musk and his companies, sits in this court. The court is located over 161km away from X's new headquarters outside Austin, Texas.
Changes to data sharing and personalization settings
Before the update, users could opt out of sharing data by changing their settings under "privacy and safety," then "data sharing and personalization." However, it is not clear if this option is still available under the new terms. Alex Fink, CEO of Otherweb, an AI-based news reading platform, told CNN that unlike other platforms with similar broad licensing rights but vague intentions, X's updated terms "remove any ambiguity."
X's block feature changes and user migration
Along with the terms update, X has also tweaked its block feature. Users were notified through a pop-up message that their posts will still be visible to users they have blocked, although they can't interact with them. This has raised safety concerns among users who have been harassed on the platform. As a result, many X users are moving to Bluesky, a decentralized rival that gained half a million new users in just one day after these updates.
