Elon Musk's X May Fine You $15,000 For Excessive Usage, Use Your Posts To Train AI: What New Terms Of Service State

X's terms of service, which came into effect on November 15, have left several users with no options but to migrate to more suitable alternatives, such as Bluesky.

Under the updated terms, X reserves the right to use any content shared on the platform to train its AI systems

Source : BoliviaInteligente/Unsplash

Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) is facing backlash following the implementation of controversial new terms of service on November 15, prompting some users to leave the platform. These terms grant the company broad rights to utilise user content for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models and introduce a liquidated damages clause that could impose fines of up to $15,000 for excessive use.

X AI Training Permissions Raise Privacy Issues

Under the updated terms, X reserves the right to use any content shared on the platform to train its AI systems, including its Grok chatbot. The policy applies to public posts and user interactions, with an option to opt out of Grok-specific training. However, the terms do not clarify whether private messages are included, fueling concerns about data privacy.

This is what X wrote in its Terms of Service:

"You agree that this license includes the right for us to (i) provide, promote, and improve the Services, including, for example, for use with and training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or another type; and (ii) to make Content submitted to or through the Services available to other companies, organizations or individuals, including, for example, for improving the Services and the syndication, broadcast, distribution, repost, promotion or publication of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use."

While X has faced criticism for these permissions, rivals like Meta's Threads have similar policies, using user data for AI training.

In contrast, Bluesky, a growing microblogging platform, has explicitly stated it does not use user content for AI training.

Fines For 'Excessive Use': What Does That Mean?

Another contentious update is a clause holding users liable for damages if they view more than one million posts in a single day.

This is what X specified:

"You further agree that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, if you violate the Terms, or you induce or facilitate others to do so, in addition to all other legal remedies available to us, you will be jointly and severally liable to us for liquidated damages as follows for requesting, viewing, or accessing more than 1,000,000 posts (including reply posts, video posts, image posts, and any other posts) in any 24-hour period - $15,000 USD per 1,000,000 posts. You agree that these amounts are (i) a reasonable estimate of our damages; (ii) not a penalty; and (iii) not otherwise limiting of our ability to recover from you or others under any legal or equitable theory or claim, including but not limited to statutory damages and/or equitable relief."

While unlikely to affect most individual users, researchers and journalists relying on large-scale data analysis have expressed concerns. As reported by CNCB, Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute called the clause a "disturbing move" that could hinder critical research into the influence of social media platforms.

Users Migrate to Alternatives

Frustration with the new policies has led to a surge in user departures. As per CNBC, some users, like actress Gabrielle Union, announced their exit on the platform, citing growing discomfort with X’s direction.

end of an era ✌🏾 pic.twitter.com/DfUxoGz2HX

— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) November 15, 2024

Bluesky has emerged as a popular alternative, with a 651 per cent spike in downloads since early November. Threads, another competitor, has also seen increased activity, though both platforms remain smaller than X in terms of monthly active users.

X claims approximately 318 million monthly users, while Meta reports nearly 275 million for Threads.

Bluesky, though significantly smaller at 21 million users, is rapidly gaining traction due to its commitment to data privacy and simpler policies.