Elon Musk announced that X’s feed algorithm will soon be fully powered by xAI’s Grok system, marking a significant shift in how the platform recommends content to users. According to Musk’s statement, the company aims to delete all traditional heuristics within 4 to 6 weeks, with Grok processing over 100 million daily posts to match users with relevant content.
Addressing the Visibility Problem
The updated AI system is designed to tackle X’s longstanding issue where quality content from new and small accounts goes unnoticed. Musk emphasized that Grok will “literally read every post and watch every video” to improve content matching. Users will also gain the ability to customize their feed temporarily or permanently by simply asking Grok for adjustments, giving them greater control over their content experience.
Limited Impact Potential
However, the real-world impact of these improvements remains uncertain. Unlike TikTok and Instagram, which force users to see algorithmic feeds by default, X allows users to set their “Following” feed as the default option, bypassing the algorithmic “For You” feed entirely. Since X shares limited usage data, it’s unclear how many of its 600 million monthly active users actually use the “For You” feed where algorithm changes would matter most.
While the Grok-powered system should theoretically boost visibility for smaller creators and improve overall content relevance, the effectiveness depends heavily on user adoption of the algorithmic feed. Without concrete data on feed preferences, the full impact of this AI upgrade remains speculative.