Hey there! So, here’s the scoop: Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) is taking a closer look at X, the company under Elon Musk’s umbrella, about how it’s handling European user data. The big question on the table? How X is using personal data from public posts by European users to build AI models, especially one called Grok. This all kicked off after a report from Reuters caught the DPC’s attention.
The DPC is known for being quite the watchdog when it comes to privacy laws. They’ve already slapped fines on giants like Microsoft, TikTok, and Meta. Just to give you an idea, Meta’s fines have almost hit the 3 billion euro mark, which is around $3.38 billion. That’s no small change!
Back in 2024, X started quietly mixing user data with xAI, Musk’s AI venture, to boost Grok, their AI chatbot. A big moment came last month when Musk announced that xAI had taken over X.
Under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Ireland’s data authority can impose fines up to 4% of a company’s global revenue if they don’t play by the rules. This investigation is happening after a court order was sought last year to stop X from using European user data for AI training without getting the proper go-ahead.
This whole situation really highlights how important it is to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to data processing. The GDPR sets some pretty high standards, and companies need to keep up.
