Ireland’s data protection authority, which represents the European Union on regulatory issues, announced on Friday (11) the opening of a formal investigation against social network X, previously known as Twitter, by billionaire Elon Musk. The focus of the investigation is the possible use of personal data from European users to train artificial intelligence models, such as the Grok tool.
According to an official statement, the investigation examines the use of “personal data included in public access publications made by Users of the X platform” located in the European Union and the European Economic Space. , especially with regard to legality and transparency in the treatment of this information.
The investigation occurs months after the X has committed not to use certain personal data from European users to train their IAS.
In September 2024, the company had signaled the end of an open judicial procedure in the Ireland Superior Court, by promising not to use the data collected between May 7 and August 1 of that year. However, the development of new models continued after this period, which motivated the new inquiry.
The Irish authority has jurisdiction about X and other technology giants installed in Ireland, such as Goal and Google, and acts as a representative of the European Union for regulatory purposes.
The case is part of a broader context of tension between EU and United States technology companies.
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The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has already threatened to impose rates if Big Techs do not comply with European Privacy and Data Protection Standards.
If the investigation points to irregularities, X may face fines and legal sanctions, as well as new embargoes on the use of public data to feed its artificial intelligence systems.
