In a post on his social platform, Elon Musk said the code behind X’s core recommendation engine would be released as open source within days. It’s the latest in a string of promises to open the platform’s black box, though Musk’s follow-through on similar commitments has been uneven.
The company points to a GitHub repository released in 2023 as evidence of past openness, but it tells only part of the story. That code has sat unchanged for years, far removed from the system now shaping millions of feeds. According to Musk, today’s algorithm has evolved into something far more complex, increasingly shaped by his AI ambitions.
The system now reportedly depends heavily on Grok, the AI developed by Musk’s xAI. X has spent the past year integrating it into its recommendation pipeline, where it processes roughly 100 million daily posts to estimate what users will find engaging. According to Musk, feed improvements are now “purely AI,” guided by models that adapt based on likes, reposts, and viewing time rather than manual adjustments.
The predictions now guide most aspects of the platform, including the “For You” timeline, ad ordering, and account recommendations. According to the company, the model is updated every few weeks, with changes documented for review.
The announcement comes amid rising user frustration with feed behavior. In October, X confirmed a “significant bug” that suppressed posts from followed accounts. Although the company says the issue has been resolved, users continue to report irregular behavior.
More pressing is the timing of the pledge, which coincides with growing global criticism of Grok’s image-generation features. Indonesian authorities have blocked access to the tool following investigations into AI-generated sexual content. In the UK, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has warned that X could be blocked if the platform does not adequately address similar material, citing protections for women and minors.
Musk’s response has been defiant. He accused the UK government of “fascist” overreach in a post on the platform, setting the stage for a potential regulatory clash.
All of this makes the big question hard to ignore: how much will Musk really open up? Grok-1 was released as open source in early 2024, but it hasn’t been updated in years, even as internal versions have moved on to Grok-3. That gap fuels doubts about how much of the system actually running X will ever be shared.
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