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Ireland Launches Probe into X Over AI Data Practices in the EU

By  |  April 13, 2025
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Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has initiated a formal investigation into the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, regarding its use of European users’ personal data to train its artificial intelligence system, Grok. The move places renewed regulatory pressure on the company amid growing scrutiny over how tech firms are handling data in the age of generative AI.

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    According to Reuters, the inquiry will examine whether X violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by processing personal data from publicly available posts made by users in the European Union and European Economic Area without appropriate legal grounds. The DPC is particularly focused on whether this data was used to train X’s AI models, raising concerns about transparency and user consent.

    As the lead EU data privacy watchdog for X—due to the company’s European headquarters being located in Ireland—the DPC holds the authority to impose fines of up to 4% of a company’s global annual revenue under GDPR rules. Per Reuters, this investigation follows a legal case from last year, in which the DPC sought to prevent X from continuing to process EU users’ data for AI development without proper consent.

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    Read more: EU Sets Out Plan to Close the AI Gap with US and China

    That legal effort was resolved after X agreed to cease such data use until users were explicitly given the opportunity to opt out. The DPC subsequently dropped its court action, stating that X had committed to these limitations on a permanent basis.

    The case places X in the company of several U.S. tech giants who have come under fire from the Irish regulator. Since receiving expanded enforcement powers in 2018, the DPC has levied substantial fines against firms like Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft’s LinkedIn. According to Reuters, Meta alone has been fined nearly €3 billion to date.

    While X has not been fined since 2020—when it was ordered to pay €450,000 for failing to promptly report a data breach—this new investigation could mark a turning point. The platform’s current owner, Elon Musk, has been vocal in his criticism of EU digital regulations, especially those concerning online content. Musk, who is known to be a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has previously characterized EU oversight as overly restrictive.

    Meanwhile, Trump and several members of his administration have also accused the European Union of targeting U.S. firms with excessive regulatory action, describing the resulting fines as de facto taxation.

    Source: Reuters