Elon Musk’s xAI Buys X—Here’s What That Means For You

Elon Musk’s AI firm xAI has purchased X, formerly Twitter in a $33 billion deal announced Friday.

Musk, who bought X for $44 billion in 2022, says the acquisition includes xAI and X’s “data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”

The merger between X and xAI is Elon Musk’s latest step in building “an all-encompassing everything app,” says Cheney Hamilton, a research analyst at Bloor Research. “By integrating xAI into the X platform, is aim is to turn X into a hub for real-time interaction, content, and AI-powered experiences, essentially competing with the likes of Google, Meta, and OpenAI.”

Concerns were already rife X’s AI chatbot, Grok, which is developed by xAI, due to the amount of data it collects.

It comes as the platform suffered a massive data leak, after a hacker gave away what is claimed to be a database containing details of 200 million X user records.

So, now xAI has bought X and the two platforms will become even more integrated, what does that mean for your privacy — and is it time to finally quit X?

Elon Musk’s xAI Buys X — What About Privacy?

To Elon Musk, the move makes perfect sense. The merger is primarily about combining user engagement — posts, messages, comments, likes — with xAI’s “insatiable need for unique training data,” says Angus Allan, senior product manager at CreateFuture. “As content providers increasingly restrict access to their data or strike exclusive deals, like Reddit licensing access to OpenAI, X’s wealth of user interactions becomes an extraordinarily valuable proprietary dataset for Grok.”

For users, the privacy implications are “enormous,” says Allan. He thinks the merger “completely redefines the established relationship between the platforms.”

“Previously, Grok was essentially a tool available on X that users could choose to engage with. Now, with xAI taking over and becoming the parent company of the social media platform, that separation disappears entirely,” Allan says.

He points to the November 2024 terms of service update. “This already established the groundwork by significantly expanding X’s rights over user content. That update included explicit language giving X the right to use content for ‘training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models’ and expanded the license to ‘upload and download’ user content ‘for any purpose.’ The merger now brings both entities under single ownership, removing any remaining barriers between users’ social media activity and AI training data.”

Camden Woollven, group head of AI product marketing at GRC International Group thinks the move is “definitely a concern.”

“The merger means that xAI now has direct access to all the data flowing through X —we’re talking about posts, messages, images, maybe even location data, depending on what people share. That data is likely being used to train Grok and any future AI tools they build,” she says.

The move combines vast amounts of user-generated data from X with the advanced AI capabilities of xAI, says Chelsea Hopkins, social media manager at Fasthosts. “This integration allows for AI-driven features to become more personalised, but it also increases the potential for extensive data collection and use, often without clear opt-out options being available to users.”

The inclusion of publicly shared images in AI training is particularly concerning, says Adrianus Warmenhoven, a cybersecurity expert at NordVPN. “Photos often contain metadata, facial features, or sensitive details that could be misused. Without clear safeguards, this could lead to unintended consequences, including identity misuse or unauthorized facial recognition applications.”

Can X Read My Messages?

If you are concerned that X can read your messages following the new deal, there’s good and bad news. Not much will change, as X can already see your messages, is the good news.

But that’s also the bad news. “X already has access to your messages, and if this integration deepens, that data could theoretically be used to train or inform AI outputs,” says Hamilton. “While Musk has suggested that xAI will be privacy conscious, there’s currently no clear policy outlining limits or user protections,” he adds.

With the merger, xAI now has access to everything flowing through X, Woollven says. “While we know public posts and interactions are fair game for training models like Grok, it gets murkier when it comes to private messages. If they’re not being used now, there’s still that open question of could they be, especially if policies quietly change or users aren’t clearly informed.”

Is There Any Way To Boost Privacy On X?

If you are worried about privacy, users do have some theoretical control, says Allan. European users can object to data processing for AI training through account settings thanks to GDPR protections, and anyone with an X account can opt out of future model training by going to Privacy & Safety > Data sharing and Personalization > Grok and unchecking the training option.

“However, these settings don’t retroactively remove your data from existing models, meaning your digital history remains in the system,” Allan says.

What Should X Users Do?

If you use X for public content only, there’s less risk, but for private communication, especially sensitive messages, now is the time to reconsider, says Hamilton. “Stick to end-to-end encrypted platforms such as Signal or WhatsApp for messaging, and if privacy is a top priority, it may be worth stepping away from X altogether.”

If protecting your privacy is a priority, make use of all available settings and options, but recognise their limitations, says Allan. “They’ve already trained on your past data, and you can’t take that back. For those genuinely concerned about privacy, the stark reality is that it may indeed be time to consider alternatives.”

If you don’t want to quit, it’s important to be mindful of what you are posting. “People should be a bit more intentional about what they’re posting, who can see it and what they’re giving the platform access to — especially now that AI is in the mix,” says Woollven.

If you care about privacy, xAI’s integration with X is certainly a concern. It’s time to lock down your settings on the platform, if you don’t want to quit Elon Musk’s X just yet.