The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has initiated high court proceedings against social media company X ( formally known as Twitter) for alleged data privacy violations. This move comes as part of the DPC’s mandate to enforce the European Union’s data protection regulations.
The case is tied to “X” and xAI’s “Grok” artificial intelligence model. According to Irish news site RTE, the DPC acted after X reportedly refused to stop collecting data from EU users.
The DPC had hoped for a cooperative resolution, as indicated in a statement on July 25, but X did not meet the anticipated response deadline.
Both X and xAI are owned by Elon Musk, who has emphasized the collaboration between the two companies. Grok, xAI’s AI model, relies on data from X’s social media platform for training. Despite an opt-out option for users, the DPC contends that data was utilized before this feature was available, inadequately addressing privacy concerns.
The court documents show that while legal action is underway, the specific impacts on X or xAI users in the EU remain unclear. A judge has approved expedited proceedings, but it is uncertain what this will mean for the companies involved.
Moreover, Musk is also pursuing legal action against Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Musk had previously sued Altman and OpenAI, claiming the organization was misusing its non-profit status for profit-making purposes, a lawsuit he dropped in June. The new lawsuit alleges that Altman misled Musk into investing in a deceptive non-profit venture.
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