X (formerly Twitter) has decided to suspend the use of European user data to train its artificial intelligence, Grok. The company has made this decision following complaints from 9 European countries (including Spain) to the Data Protection Commission of Ireland (DPC), which oversees the activity of large technology companies in the European Union.
In a context of great control over AI companies, the DPC requested a few days ago the suspension of data processing activities by X to train its AI, alleging that the company did not obtain the express consent of users for such purposes.
The data collection process began on May 7, although the possibility of exclusion for users was not introduced until July 16 and was not immediately available to everyone. Therefore, for a while, X used the data without the explicit consent of users, going against the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the EU.
X (formerly known as Twitter), under the leadership of Elon Musk, has stated that the data collected between May and August will not be used while the DPC order is being examined. The company has described the measure as ‘unwarranted, overbroad and singles out X without any justification,’ and has expressed concern that this could affect ‘the security of the platform’ and its operations in the EU.
And it is not an isolated case precisely. Other tech giants, such as Meta and Google, are being subjected to similar scrutiny by regulatory authorities, and have taken measures to adjust their practices to European laws. These measures reflect a change in attitude from EU regulators, who are now taking a more active role in supervising the use of data by tech companies.
