Elon Musk plans to introduce user fees on X platform to combat bot problem
Elon Musk is strategizing to levy a nominal charge on new users of the social network X to activate their posting capabilities as a measure to tackle the prevalent bot issue. Responding to a post by an X account regarding alterations on the platform's website, Musk emphasized that imposing a small fee on new accounts is the "only way" to counter the "onslaught of bots." He highlighted the ease with which current AI, including troll farms, can surpass conventional bot detection methods like CAPTCHA.
In subsequent interactions, Musk clarified that new accounts would gain posting privileges after three months of creation without incurring any fee. However, specifics regarding the implementation timeline and the amount of fees remain undisclosed, a common occurrence with announcements related to the social platform.
Last October, X initiated a practice of charging new unverified users $1 annually in New Zealand and the Philippines. These users could browse posts but were restricted from engaging with them unless they paid the stipulated fee. Musk might adopt a similar fee structure for other regions, according to Tech Crunch.
Recently, X embarked on a significant campaign to purge spam accounts, cautioning users about potential fluctuations in their follower counts. Yet, the decision to impose charges on new users suggests a more proactive approach to addressing the bot predicament. While Musk has vocalized his efforts to combat AI bots, X updated its policy last year to permit the utilization of public posts for training machine learning algorithms or AI models. Additionally, Musk's AI company, xAI, announced intentions to leverage public posts for model training purposes.
Recently, xAI introduced its Grok chatbot to Premium users of X, who subscribe for $8 per month, previously reserved for Premium+ tier subscribers paying $16 monthly. Fortune reported X's plans to extend Grok's availability to assist users in composing posts.
