X Introduces AI-Powered News Summaries with Grok Stories
Personalized Trending Stories for Premium Subscribers
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has launched a new feature called Grok Stories that utilizes Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, to provide personalized summaries of trending stories in the app’s Explore section. According to the X Engineering team, Premium subscribers will now have access to concise overviews of popular posts associated with each trending story featured on the For You tab in Explore.
Catching Up with Ease
The For You page is a go-to destination for X users who want to stay informed about the latest news and conversations within their network without spending hours scrolling through their timeline. With Grok Stories, users can quickly grasp the essence of trending topics, such as advancements in technology, industry updates, or societal issues, by reading the AI-generated summaries at the top of each story’s page.
Grok’s Capabilities and Limitations
While Grok Stories offer a convenient way to stay informed, X acknowledges that the AI chatbot is not infallible. A disclaimer beneath each summary reads:
Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.
This transparency serves as a reminder for users to exercise critical thinking and fact-check the information provided by the AI.
The Evolution of Trend Summaries
The concept of summarizing trends is not entirely new. In 2020, Twitter began adding headlines and descriptions to some of its daily trends, albeit without the assistance of an AI bot. However, the implementation was inconsistent, with only a portion of the trends receiving additional context. In contrast, Grok Stories aims to provide summaries for all the top news stories on the For You page, ensuring a more comprehensive experience for users.
Grok as a Premium Feature
Access to xAI’s chatbot Grok is positioned as a key selling point for X’s Premium and Premium+ subscriptions. By tapping on the bottom middle button of the app, Premium users can interact with Grok, a snarky and “rebellious” AI that sets itself apart from other chatbots like ChatGPT through its exclusive and real-time access to X data.
Musk’s Vision for AI-Powered News
Tech journalist Alex Kantrowitz shared insights into Elon Musk’s broader plan for AI-powered news on X, based on an email conversation with the platform’s owner:
Conversations on X will make up the core of Grok’s summaries. Grok won’t look at the article text, in other words, even if that’s what people are discussing on the platform.
While this approach may be controversial, as the summaries may reflect opinions rather than the news itself, Kantrowitz acknowledges the potential opportunity it presents.
The Impact on Journalism and News Publishers
The rise of AI news summaries, not only on X but also through startups like Arc and Particle, raises questions about the future of journalism and the sustainability of news websites. Some publishers are proactively partnering with AI providers, such as OpenAI’s collaborations with the Financial Times, Axel Springer, the Associated Press, and Le Monde, to navigate this evolving landscape.
Accessing Grok Stories
Grok Stories are now available to Premium X subscribers, with access to Premium starting at $8 per month when paid through the web rather than app stores.
6 Comments
Grok stepping into the news game with AI? This I gotta see!
X’s new AI-powered summaries are about to make us question everything we knew about news consumption!
Grok’s mixing AI into news now? Let’s see if the future’s ready for this shake-up!
Well, looks like X’s AI is ready to serve us the future of news on a silver platter.
X and Grok are twisting the news game with AI? Buckle up, this is gonna be a ride!
Juno: X teaming up with Grok for AI-driven news summaries? Talk about a plot twist in the media narrative!