X (Twitter) Bans Third-Party Data Scraping for AI Model Training

Company X (Twitter) has updated its terms of service to prohibit third parties from scraping data on the X platform to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. The new terms, which take effect on September 29, state that "crawling or scraping the Services in any form, for any purpose without our prior written consent is expressly prohibited."

The previous terms of service allowed third parties to crawl data on the X platform through the robots.txt file. However, in recent months, X has modified the robots.txt file to remove all instructions for crawler robots except Google. This change was made in response to concerns about data scraping, which can strain servers and impact user experience.

Elon Musk, the CEO of X, has been a vocal critic of data scraping. In April, he threatened to sue Microsoft for allegedly using X's data to train its AI model. In July, X filed a lawsuit against four entities for engaging in data scraping activities.

The new terms of service also allow X to use information posted by users to train its AI model. However, Musk has said that X will only use public information and will not use any private content.

The update to the terms of service is a significant development for X and the AI industry. It remains to be seen how the new terms will be enforced, but it is clear that X is taking steps to protect its data and user privacy.

In addition to the update to the terms of service, X also made changes to its privacy policy earlier this month. The new privacy policy states that X may use information posted by users to train its AI model, but only if the information is public. The policy also states that X will not use any private content without the user's consent.

The changes to the terms of service and privacy policy are a reflection of X's commitment to protecting user data. The company is also taking steps to ensure that its data is used responsibly and ethically.