X to Let Grok Curate User Timelines
▼ Summary
– X is introducing a feature for Premium iOS subscribers where its AI chatbot, Grok, will curate their home timeline based on pinned topics.
– The company is deprecating its X Communities feature on May 6th due to declining usage and encouraging users to migrate to group chats.
– Grok’s timeline curation is designed to personalize feeds using the AI’s understanding of posts and a user’s engagement history.
– The platform’s move away from community feeds contrasts with competitors like Threads and Mastodon, which continue to embrace them.
– Grok has previously faced legal and regulatory scrutiny, including a lawsuit over its AI image generation producing harmful content.
The social media platform X is introducing a significant change to how users experience their feeds, placing its artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, at the center of content curation. This new feature, now in early access for iOS Premium subscribers, allows users to pin specific topics of interest directly to their home tab. Grok will then leverage its analysis of every post on the platform, combined with the core algorithm’s personalization data, to construct a unique timeline for each individual. According to X product head Nikita Bier, this system is designed to work most effectively when focused on subjects the user already actively engages with, promising a more tailored content stream. The company plans to roll out this Grok-powered timeline to Android subscribers in the near future.
This shift toward AI-driven personalization coincides with X’s decision to sunset another feature. The platform will officially deprecate X Communities, formerly known simply as Communities, on May 6th. The company cited declining usage as the reason for removing this service, which enabled users to connect through dedicated topic-based feeds. X is now directing community organizers to migrate their groups into XChat, the platform’s messaging service, utilizing group chats as an alternative. This move away from structured community spaces contrasts with the strategy of other social networks, such as Threads and Mastodon, which continue to develop and support similar community-focused features.
The launch of enhanced AI features follows a period of intense scrutiny for Grok. Earlier this year, the chatbot’s image generation capability sparked global concern after it was used to create undressed depictions of people, including minors. Last month, a group of teenagers filed a lawsuit against xAI, the company behind Grok, and its leadership. The lawsuit alleges that executives, including Elon Musk, knowingly launched the chatbot’s “spicy” image mode despite an understanding that it could generate AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
(Source: The Verge)
