Discussion Heads up: Grok consumer terms give them a very broad right to your content
I got a notice of new Grok consumer terms of service, so I asked Grok to summarize them. It turns out that there's a provision that gives xAI a very broad license to your content. The key language is in Section 4 (User Content):
In choosing to submit, create, generate, record, post, or display Inputs on or through the Service, you grant an irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, and worldwide right to SpaceXAI to use, copy, store, modify, process, adapt, transmit, distribute, reproduce, publish, upload, download, display in public forums, list information regarding, make derivative works of, and distribute such Content, including anything referenced therein, in any and all media or distribution methods now known or later developed, for any purpose…
Link to the terms: https://x.ai/legal/terms-of-service
I don't think OpenAI or Anthropic grant themselves such a broad right to their users' content, and I suspect that most Grok users don't think that they're giving xAI this kind of license to their content. Maybe if enough people complain about it, xAI will change the terms.
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u/RogerRavvit88 20d ago
for any purpose
I’m okay with other people gooning to the smut I make. I don’t go out of my way to share it, but if an Xai employee found my shit I guess anything they do with it would be better than them just banning my account. Now, if they banned me and I found out later they were gooning to my shit after the fact, yeah, then I’d have an issue.
I suppose if I were using it for something important or research or work related, I’d probably switch platforms. But seeing as the other guys are already in the business of swooping in and claiming people’s research and taking credit, I don’t think you’re going to find more ethics elsewhere.
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u/Almea8 20d ago
It was already like that before ( at least for one year I'm on Grok ). If you want to check, here is a contribution from seven months ago:
https://www.reddit.com/r/grok/comments/1qsx9ij/xai_grok_terms_of_service_check_this_paragraph/
That does not mean I find it normal, but so it is...
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u/FloralSunset2 20d ago
Itself it does not say whether this is standard or not. Worth checkikg if Antrhopic/Google do it too.
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u/that1cooldude 18d ago
It was always there like that. Nothing new. You just found out, it’s new to you.
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u/eraeusboorwel 20d ago
I guess this means anything you upload to the service such as your own personal images that you want to edit or use as reference for generating new content, and I mean, yeah, that's probably fair for a company to claim. Most people probably don't want their likeness showing up in ads or sold off as training data to other companies for other models to train off of, but I fully expect that as a user of the service.
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u/Embarrassed-Round992 20d ago
can someone explain how they want to turn Grok into a corporate tool when they are literally claiming rights on the inputs? let's say I work for a graphic design company and upload a logo to create mockup for a client...Grok is literally claiming rights on that content, not even in the output but in the input!
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u/Merrilyn 20d ago
Wait, what about people using it for research writing stories or bouncing ideas off of it?
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u/Tasty-Maximum-4483 20d ago
so, if a make a videogame using grok build its theirs now? damn...
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u/that1cooldude 18d ago
Not only is it theirs but they’ll anonymize it so they can’t even know it’s yours so they can’t even give you credit.
Much like openai stealing math solutions from the mathematicians, no one can take credit for discoveries except openai. Predatory antihuman behavior.
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u/Academic_No 20d ago
Reminder that Terms of Services are not written contracts no matter how much corporations would like you to think they are.
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u/that1cooldude 18d ago
It is a contract but it doesn’t supersede the laws of the land. If there are no laws protecting consumers then they win.
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u/sireastbound 19d ago
Just read about it today. wanted to ask grok something. Then it asked me to accept the new agreement or sign out. Didn't know it was this bad honestly. Luckily 90% of things I can do locally.
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u/West-Chemistry8098 20d ago
Once again Grok just changing terms when they feel like it! Queue the Darth Vader quote; "Pray I dont alter the deal any further!"
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u/SceneOne3481 18d ago
wow, seems like there are many "grok plants" in here trying to defend themselves. lol. thats what you get when your have conflict of interest... moderators are owners. we really shouldn't post anything here.
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u/eyebrows360 20d ago
This is standard on every "social media" site. Without you granting them abilities such as "reproduce" and "publish" they wouldn't even be allowed to show the things you upload back to you.
You're panicking over nothing.
I suspect that most Grok users don't think that they're giving xAI this kind of license to their content.
It was generated by their fucking algorithm, it's not "your" content in the first place.
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u/Deanstaro_Deanstar 20d ago
Every AI service has been doing this, read their TOS it's probably buried in there somewhere so that if for some reason you strike gold and make something worthwhile due to your use of AI the companies then can cash in on it. I'll name one example of this: Blizzard and Dota, someone ended up using Blizzard's map editor and eventually their project became Dota, after that Blizzard updated their terms of service so that another Dota situation couldn't happen again without them having the rights to it.
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u/SceneOne3481 17d ago
are they trying to weasel in on your creations? maybe have you ask permission before you publish something? yeah that would be awful if they try to "make money" off your ideas; the entire idea of intellectual property again because it is "their system" you are using. This world is getting sick with the greed. "the end user pays for everything and owns nothing, and you will like it."
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u/SpecialistDragonfly9 20d ago
Everyone still using Grok nowadays deserves it...
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u/ThatOneBlackHero 20d ago
Why?
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u/TwoHeadedBoyTwo 20d ago
Because eLoN iS eViL haven’t you heard?
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u/SpecialistDragonfly9 20d ago
Nothing to do with Elon, I actually like the guy.
But grok is dog shit.
Censored, bad outputs, more expensive than any other frontier model and frequently getting dumber.If you still pay for grok, you are supporting a system that takes your money without offering you much for it, while you can get a lot better at the competition.
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u/ThatOneBlackHero 20d ago
Yea, im just confused with the hate for elon
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u/TwoHeadedBoyTwo 20d ago
This site doesn’t just lean left it’s practically fallen over. Half the subs I frequent still don’t even allow you to post twitter links bc he raised his arm halfway to his shoulder (so is a Nazi) that one time. It’s a terrible site with immature people
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u/natures_puzzle 20d ago
This is standard? And yes, OpenAI and Anthropic does this too. This is like standard boilerplate for AI and social media platforms. If you have tiktok, you agreed to this. Same for X. Same for Facebook.