On Thursday, the social media platform X announced that it will not proceed with training its artificial intelligence systems using personal data collected from European Union users until consent options have been provided and users have the chance to withdraw their consent, according to a statement made in an Irish court.
The Irish Data Protection Commission, which oversees compliance for many prominent US internet companies operating within the EU, has requested that the court impose restrictions on X’s processing of user data related to the development and enhancement of its AI systems.
Owned by Elon Musk, X has stated that it permits users to decide whether their public posts can be utilized by its AI chatbot, Grok. Users can opt out by deselecting a checkbox in their privacy settings.
However, Judge Leonie Reynolds highlighted that X began processing the data of EU users for AI training purposes on May 7, but did not offer the opt-out option until July 16. She noted that this option was not initially available to all users.
A legal representative for X indicated that data collected from EU users between May 7 and August 1 would remain unused while the court deliberates on the Irish Data Protection Commission’s order.
The court was informed that X’s legal team plans to submit opposition documents to the suspension order by September 4.
In a recent post on the platform, the Global Government Affairs account for X criticized the regulator’s request as “unwarranted, overboard and singles out X without any justification.”
The regulator’s scrutiny of X’s data usage follows a similar situation in June when Meta Platforms chose to delay the launch of its Meta AI models in Europe, adhering to advice from the Irish Data Protection Commission.
Additionally, Alphabet’s Google made accommodations to its Gemini AI chatbot earlier this year following discussions with the Irish regulator.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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