Elon Musk’s X Corp Taps Public Data for AI Ambitions

A recent change to the privacy practices of Elon Musk’s X Corp (formerly Twitter) has raised eyebrows. The internet firm will leverage publicly accessible information for artificial intelligence and machine learning training and gather biometric, career, and educational data.

Alex Ivanovs of Stackdiary was the first to notice this change, sparking debate about technology on several online discussion boards.

Musk dispelled any doubt by announcing the update on X Corp’s website. He emphasized that no private information, including e-mails, will be used, just publicly available information. Importantly, this fits his goals for artificial intelligence, which he has pursued via a firm he founded called xAI.

X’s Confidentiality Issues Confront Ambitious Goals

In addition, this isn’t the first time Musk has intended to use public data for AI education and development. He has previously said that xAI will use “public tweets” and had been critical of Microsoft and other tech titans for using similar methods. 

This new information lends credence to speculation that X Corp provides a wealth of data for xAI. On its webpage, xAI also states it will “work closely with X Corp, Tesla, and other companies” to achieve its goals.

Therefore, with this new policy, X Corp. may collect information about its employees’ employment histories and academic backgrounds in preparation for another Musk project: a competitor to LinkedIn. 

Earlier this week, Musk called LinkedIn “cringe,” suggesting that an X Corp. equivalent would be “cool.” The sudden focus on users’ occupations may result from this change.

There has been some concern that X Corp would sell user data due to company advertising income issues. Although there is no proof to support this assertion, it is not out of the question, given the common usage of data on social media.

An open window into how Musk’s growing empire will use user data collected publicly has been provided by X Corp’s revised policy. Whether for revolutionary AI algorithms or a LinkedIn-style job site, this new path marks a dramatic departure in how X Corp. interacts with its clientele.