The screen froze mid-scroll, the little loading icon mocking you. You refresh, thinking it’s just your connection. Nope. Across the globe, from bustling New York to sunny Los Angeles, Elon Musk’s X is experiencing what can only be described as a digital ghost town.
DownDetector lit up like a Christmas tree, reporting tens of thousands of users struggling to access X. The outage seemed to gain momentum around 10 a.m. ET and, at the time of writing, is still ongoing. Consider this: is this a simple glitch or a sign of deeper turmoil within the platform?
Grok Under Fire
I noticed whispers online about xAI’s chatbot, Grok, also acting strangely, though the reports are fewer. Grok, as you may recall, has been at the center of a storm recently.
It’s caught flak for allowing users to generate non-consensual, sexualized images. Malaysia and Indonesia have already banned Grok, and other countries are poking around, launching investigations. The heat is on, and it’s burning hot for xAI (€ equivalent).
Reportedly, the Attorneys General in California and Arizona are also taking a closer look at Grok. xAI has placed restrictions on the tool, and users on r/Grok are moaning that they can’t create NSFW material as freely as they once could. Is this censorship, or responsible moderation?
Why is X having problems?
While it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact cause without inside information, speculation is running wild. Server overload? A targeted attack? Or perhaps something more internal, like a configuration error during a recent update? The truth remains elusive.
The Sound of Silence
My attempts to get a comment from X on Friday were met with the familiar wall of silence. This is becoming a pattern. Musk’s relationship with the media is, to put it mildly, strained.
Remember the auto-responder that fired off a poop emoji to journalist inquiries? While I didn’t get that particular greeting, xAI still has a similar system in place, responding to reporter questions with “Legacy Media Lies.” It’s as though dealing with the press is like trying to herd cats.
Is X losing users?
Anecdotally, I’m seeing more and more people jump ship to alternatives like Threads, Bluesky, and even Mastodon. An outage like this only accelerates that process. When a platform becomes unreliable, users start voting with their feet. Is this the beginning of the end for X as a dominant social force?
X is a platform where opinions can be expressed, but now it is broken. Perhaps the biggest problem in the grand scheme of things? Only time will tell.
Gizmodo will update this article if X ever decides to talk.
What will happen to Grok?
The future of Grok hangs in the balance. Facing bans, investigations, and user restrictions, xAI needs to tread carefully. Can they find a way to moderate the tool effectively without stifling creativity? Or is Grok destined to become another cautionary tale in the world of AI?