X Decides Your Timeline Needs a Little More Grok, a Little Less Community
X is letting its AI chatbot Grok curate your timeline while shutting down its Communities feature, because who needs human connection when you have algorithmic 'personalization'?
X is putting its AI chatbot, Grok, in charge of your timeline, because clearly, the algorithm needed another opinion. In an announcement on Wednesday, X product head Nikita Bier says Premium subscribers on iOS can get early access to a feature that allows users to pin specific topics to their home tab, which Grok will then use to curate the posts you see across each feed.
“It’s powered by Grok’s understanding of every post with the algorithm’s personalization - meaning every timeline is made just for you,” Bier writes, presumably with a straight face. “And it works even better when it’s a topic you already engage with.” Bier says early access to the Grok-powered timeline is coming to Android users “very soon.”
Along with this update, Bier also announced that X is deprecating X Communities - formerly known as Communities - due to “declining usage” on May 6th. X Communities allowed users to connect with others through feeds dedicated to specific topics. X is now encouraging users to migrate their communities to group chats within the platform’s messaging service, XChat, because nothing says 'community' like a private chat.
Even as X moves away from community-focused feeds, other platforms, like Threads and Mastodon, continue to embrace it, perhaps sensing that humans still occasionally enjoy talking to each other in groups.
Earlier this year, Grok caught the attention of lawmakers from around the globe after its AI-powered image generation tool undressed people on the platform, including minors. Teens sued xAI last month, accusing Musk and other leaders of launching Grok’s “spicy” image mode while knowing it would produce AI-generated child sexual abuse material, a controversy that seems to have done little to dampen X's enthusiasm for putting Grok in more places.
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