Elon Musk’s X suspends data collection for AI training, EU watchdog says

The social media platform X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has agreed to halt the collection and processing of user data in the European Union.

After a court hearing in Ireland on Aug. 7, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) said that X has agreed to, “suspend its processing of the personal data contained in the public posts of X’s EU/EEA users which it processed between May 7, 2024 and Aug. 1, 2024, for the purpose of training its AI ‘Grok.’”

Protecting EU user data

The ruling covers the data of users within the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) and comes as a result of an undertaking given by X to the Irish High Court to cease such operations brought on by the Data Protection Commissioner.

The DPC is the primary regulator which oversees X’s activity within the region. Dr. Des Hogan, the chairman of the DPC, said in a statement that the suspension of services is “welcomed” while regulators continue to examine the platform’s compliance with GDPR.

“One of our main roles as an independent regulator and rights-based organisation is to ensure the best outcome for data subjects and today’s developments will help us to continue protecting the rights and freedoms of X users across the EU and EEA.”

He said they will continue to engage with all data controllers in an effort to safeguard citizen’s data protection rights under EU law.

Reports of X’s misuse of EU user data began to escalate in late July after the DPC was alerted to a change in default settings that allowed users’ data to be used (or not) for training Grok.

X’s evolution

Musk completed his acquisition of X at the end of October 2022, after which he began major investments into the platform’s AI integration, among other changes.

Since this shift, the platform has faced increased scrutiny from regulators worldwide due to concerns about its practices.

In July, the EU released documents that support the preliminary findings of X breaching the Digital Services Act on three counts and facing fines of “up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider.”

Musk has personally spoken out in opposition of the EU’s actions, even revealing that the European Commission offered the social media platform an “illegal secret deal” that would suppress free speech - something Musk claims to be actively championing.