Some users are leaving Elon Musk's platform due to X's new terms of service.

• Some users are leaving Elon Musk's X due to the new terms of service.
• The company requires users to grant expansive permissions to use their data to train X's artificial intelligence models.
• If users use the platform excessively, they could be held liable for damages of up to $15,000.

Some users are leaving Elon Musk's microblogging platform due to the new terms of service that took effect on Nov. 15.

The company's artificial intelligence models require users to grant expansive permissions to use their data, while also making them liable for damages of up to $15,000 if they overuse the platform.

Some longtime users of the service, including celebrities and everyday people, are posting that they are moving their content to other platforms.

"As a result of the recent and impending modifications to the terms of service and the reappearance of controversial figures, I am confronted with a dilemma and cannot fully endorse the direction of the platform," Gabrielle Union wrote on X on the same day the new terms were implemented, while simultaneously announcing her departure from the platform.

""I'm going to wind down my Twitter account because the changes to the terms of service are the final nail in the coffin for me," said @mplsFietser in a post."

Since November, many social media users have migrated to Bluesky, a microblogging startup that originated from Twitter. Some of these new Bluesky users have stated that they joined the service due to Elon Musk's support for President-elect Donald Trump.

Since November, Bluesky's U.S. mobile app downloads have increased by 651%, while X and Threads experienced growth of 20% and 42%, respectively, according to Sensor Tower's estimates.

X and Threads have significantly smaller monthly user bases compared to what was previously stated. While Musk said in May that X had 600 million monthly users, Sensor Tower estimates X had only 318 million monthly users as of October. Meanwhile, Meta reported that Threads had nearly 275 million monthly users in the same month. Bluesky recently announced that it had reached 21 million total users this week.

X's new service terms have some noteworthy changes compared to those of rivals Bluesky and Threads.

Artificial intelligence training

The company's artificial intelligence large language models, including Grok chatbot, can use any content on X royalty-free due to its new terms.

According to X's terms, you acknowledge that this license grants us the authority to offer, advertise, and enhance the Services, including, for instance, for integration with and instruction of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or another type.

The Grok app and website allow users to train and fine-tune the system using any user interactions, inputs, and results. However, this specific function can be manually turned off.

The company did not respond to a request for comment on whether X's terms allow for the use of private messages to train its AI models.

X's terms of service agreement state that you should only share content that you are comfortable with others seeing.

Meta's policies remain relatively unchanged despite X's new, more comprehensive terms.

According to Meta's Privacy Center, the maker of Threads uses "information shared on Meta's Products and services," including "posts or photos and their captions," to obtain its training data. There is no direct way for users outside of the European Union to opt out of Meta's AI training. Meta retains training data "for as long as we need it on a case-by-case basis to ensure an AI model is operating appropriately, safely and efficiently," as stated by its Privacy Center.

Meta's policy allows for private messages with friends or family to be used to train AI models, but only if one of the users in a chat chooses to share it with the models, which can include Meta AI and AI Studio.

Since Election Day, there has been a significant increase in user growth for Bluesky, yet the company does not engage in any generative AI training.

Bluesky has stated on its platform and to CNBC that it does not use any of the content to train generative AI and has no intention of doing so.

Liquidated damages

The new terms of X include a "liquidated damages" clause, which states that users who request, view, or access more than 1 million posts in a 24-hour period will be liable for damages of $15,000.

Some digital researchers are concerned about the clause, as they rely on analyzing large numbers of public posts from services like X to do their work.

In an October statement, Alex Abdo, litigation director for the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, stated that X's new terms of service are a "disturbing move that the company should reverse."

"Journalists and researchers are crucial in helping the public comprehend the impact of platforms on public discourse, elections, and relationships. However, the new terms of service from X Corp. may hinder this research when it is most necessary."

Neither Threads nor Bluesky have anything similar to X's liquidated damages clause.

Meta and X did not respond to requests for comment.

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