Elon Musk: X's New Algorithm Will Be Made Open Source in Seven Days (msn.com) 90
"We will make the new ð algorithm...open source in 7 days," Elon Musk posted Saturday on X.com. Musk says this is "including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users," and "This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed."
Some context from Engadget: Musk has been making promises of open-sourcing the algorithm since his takeover of Twitter, and in 2023 published the code for the site's "For You" feed on GitHub. But the code wasn't all that revealing, leaving out key details, according to analyses at the time. And it hasn't been kept up to date.
Bloomberg also reported on Saturday's announcement: The billionaire didn't say why X was making its algorithm open source. He and the company have clashed several times with regulators over content being shown to users.
Some X users had previously complained that they were receiving fewer posts on the social media platform from people they follow. In October, Musk confirmed in a post on X that the company had found a "significant bug" in the platform's "For You" algorithm and pledged a fix. The company has also been working to incorporate more artificial intelligence into its recommendation algorithm for X, using Grok, Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot...
In September, Musk wrote that the goal was for X's recommendation engine to "be purely AI" and that the company would share its open source algorithm about every two weeks. "To the degree that people are seeing improvements in their feed, it is not due to the actions of specific individuals changing heuristics, but rather increasing use of Grok and other AI tools," Musk wrote in October. The company was working to have all of the more than 100 million daily posts published to X evaluated by Grok, which would then offer individual users the posts most likely to interest them, Musk wrote. "This will profoundly improve the quality of your feed." He added that the company was planning to roll out the new features by November.
Some context from Engadget: Musk has been making promises of open-sourcing the algorithm since his takeover of Twitter, and in 2023 published the code for the site's "For You" feed on GitHub. But the code wasn't all that revealing, leaving out key details, according to analyses at the time. And it hasn't been kept up to date.
Bloomberg also reported on Saturday's announcement: The billionaire didn't say why X was making its algorithm open source. He and the company have clashed several times with regulators over content being shown to users.
Some X users had previously complained that they were receiving fewer posts on the social media platform from people they follow. In October, Musk confirmed in a post on X that the company had found a "significant bug" in the platform's "For You" algorithm and pledged a fix. The company has also been working to incorporate more artificial intelligence into its recommendation algorithm for X, using Grok, Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot...
In September, Musk wrote that the goal was for X's recommendation engine to "be purely AI" and that the company would share its open source algorithm about every two weeks. "To the degree that people are seeing improvements in their feed, it is not due to the actions of specific individuals changing heuristics, but rather increasing use of Grok and other AI tools," Musk wrote in October. The company was working to have all of the more than 100 million daily posts published to X evaluated by Grok, which would then offer individual users the posts most likely to interest them, Musk wrote. "This will profoundly improve the quality of your feed." He added that the company was planning to roll out the new features by November.
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He watched the penguin tape, so he has no choice but open source
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yeah, he is all about open sores alright
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It's a cursed tape, you watch it, and you release the source code in 7 days. you're given the grace period by the penguin to clean up the code and comment it, but you WILL release it, willingly or not.
This is great news (Score:5, Funny)
The creators of rival social networks like Mastodon can now get the code, review it, and make sure they never, ever, do anything remotely similar.
USELESS (Score:3)
Unless you know what's internal to Grok (and its training data), the quick summary of the key part of the source is "feed user information into black box. Return results from black box."
Re:This is great [beer] (Score:2)
Funnier of the two Funny comments, but the story had so much potential for humor. Even if I'm allergic to all things Musk?
Not worth the laugh, but I have delusions of an updated Mexican beer commercial with a script something like this:
"I don't always starve two thousand people to death each day. Oh wait, on average I do."
"He's the most psychopathic man in the world."
Any generators of AI anime in the house?
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Wrong. You bought the IDEA of a cybertruck.
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It's unlikely that Elon Musk could "green the Sahara".
Re:Silencing the Woke EU Dictators (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, but more likely than putting men on Mars by 2021. All that matters is the claim, not the result.
And $100B can buy a lot of paint; Musk is about faking it, not doing it. The reason Musk would not be interested is solely that Musk is a sociopath, he would be directly opposed to doing anything to help people.
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Holding up one stupidly-impossible task as a foil to another does not a point make.
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It does in a conversation about lies of Elon Musk when one is a claim by Elon Musk
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The reason Musk would not be interested is solely that Musk is a sociopath, he would be directly opposed to doing anything to help people.
What are your indications or proofs that Elon Musk is a sociopath, and would be directly opposed to doing anything to help people? Because it sounds like a lot of nonsense.
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What are your indications or proofs that Elon Musk is a sociopath, and would be directly opposed to doing anything to help people?
The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one. -- Bill Gates, on Elon Musk's actions to shut down USAID during his tenure as leader of DOGE.
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The point stands without Bill Gates' opinion. It is a reported fact that Musk shut down USAID, an organization that had saved 90 million lives (including 30 million children.) This shows prima facie that he is "opposed to doing anything to help people." Labeling him a sociopath is not a stretch from there.
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I don't think that proves prima facie, or at all, that Musk is a sociopath. I would probably agree he shouldn't have done that, and/or that he's not a good governor, but I don't think that's the same as "opposed to doing anything to help people." Large decisions made from a position of power often have downsides, it doesn't mean he's a sociopath. Again, I would probably disagree with that decision, but the burden of proof is on you that he did it to make sure he wouldn't help anyone, which I think is a v
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You need to look up the definition of prima facie. It means "accepted as correct until proven otherwise." And I claim that Musk shutting down USAID is prima facie evidence that he is "directly opposed to doing anything to help people."
The shutdown of USAID will cost lives. Lots of them. A study published in The Lancet concluded that it will result in 14 million avoidable deaths by 2030, 4.5 million of whom will be children.
So as far as I'm concerned, the burden of proof is on you, not me, to show that Musk'
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I'll add that Musk did not show that the decision to shut down USAID weighed heavily on his conscience. On the contrary: he gleefully brandished a chainsaw in public, celebrating with tone-deaf stagecraft his actions to chop up government indiscriminately.
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There's a difference in being opposed to helping people and being opposed to doing it the way you want.
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You, like the others in this thread, need to look up the definition of prima facie evidence. It means evidence that might be refutable, but the burden is on those who wish to refute it to do so. And you haven't.
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If you want to appeal to formal logic, don't do it fallaciously.
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I say again, you don't understand what prima facie evidence means. It does not prove a supposition. It provides evidence that needs to be refuted by the other side of the argument. And again, you haven't done that.
An example you can find online is a robbery taking place, and someone being discovered with the victim's wallet. That is prima facie evidence the person was involved in the crime. It's up to him, not the prosecutors, to explain why he has the wallet.
Musk shutting down USAID is prima facie evidence
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It appears that you have constructed a series of straw men in your mind and have convinced yourself that these imagined beings are evidence for your presuppositions. I'm sorry you put yourself in that position, but you have and it is not my problem. Hell, you don't even seem to know
Re: Silencing the Woke EU Dictators (Score:2)
SpaceX single handedly revolutionized space launch technology. He built the first mass produced electric car. Every wants to hate Musk for over promising, but he has delivered more than almost any other human alive.
Re:Silencing the Woke EU Dictators (Score:4, Insightful)
"Oh, oh, but whatsoever happened to the "it's his platform and he can do whatever he likes there" that you leftists were oh-so-fond of saying not that long ago?"
That sounds more like a conservative talking point, "leftists" don't prioritize unlimited public behaviors. Regardless, the OP did say Musk shouldn't be allowed to engage in "phony culture wars", he merely commented that Musk does that (and he does).
This is one of countless cases of MAGA projecting it's own flaws on others.
"In this culture war that's "phony" now, all of a sudden? NOW, all of s sudden you just want to get along rather than cancel and deplatofrm everyone?"
Go ahead and make it even more obvious. The party of phony culture wars doesn't like being called out for its phony culture wars.
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> Oh, oh, but whatsoever happened to the "it's his platform and he can do whatever he likes there" that you leftists were oh-so-fond of saying not that long ago?
What about it? Nobody's denying his right to do it, we're just observing that fascism is evil, and curing cancer is good.
> Before Elon bought Twitter and Zuck switched sides that is?
They were always evil.
> In this culture war that's "phony" now, all of a sudden?
The culture war has always been phony yes.
> OW, all of s sudden you just want
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Now the whole argument that Musk is doing something in secret that puts the EU propaganda at a disadvantage will be voided.
You mean the EU got it wrong when they said that X/Grok could be used to take the clothes off women and minors?
Even J.D. Vance agrees (Score:2)
That using X/Grok to make sexualised images is wrong - David Lammy: JD Vance agrees that sexualised AI images on X are ‘unacceptable’ [theguardian.com].
Re: Silencing the Woke EU Dictators (Score:1)
Following what logic? That X is running an unmodified version of the source code he will release? And that we can take his word on this?
"Transparent"? (Score:5, Informative)
I will point out that Elon Musk has often declared that various organizations he's run will be completely transparent and all details will be open for inspection, but the result has been no transparency at all.
Musk's highly touted "Department of Government Efficiency," for example, we were told would have a website that detailed exactly what the "savings" were... and they did put up a website... but it didn't itemize the majority of cuts, and of the ones that were itemized, many were inaccurate or mistaken [cbsnews.com].
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I will point out that Elon Musk has often declared that various organizations he's run will be completely transparent and all details will be open for inspection, but the result has been no transparency at all.
Musk's highly touted "Department of Government Efficiency," for example, we were told would have a website that detailed exactly what the "savings" were... and they did put up a website... but it didn't itemize the majority of cuts, and of the ones that were itemized, many were inaccurate or mistaken [cbsnews.com].
Yep, Elon makes outlandish statements in ketamine benders and never seems to make good on his promises. He's got a long history not delivering on his promises (AI, Twitter, DOGE (well, he did deliver something, just not what was promised), Self Driving, et al.) so I'll believe it when I see it.
The only time Elon follows through is after a particularly dodgy fart.
Elon is a cunt. (Score:2)
Elon is a cunt.
And a Nazzi.
What's that letter? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Appears as a lowercase o with a tilde over it to me. Why can't they just use a regular uppercase X and be done with it?
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Appears as a lowercase o with a tilde over it to me. Why can't they just use a regular uppercase X and be done with it?
This is a great advert for specsavers. Increase the font size, that's not a tilde.
But will this tell us anything? (Score:5, Insightful)
Per TFS:
In September, Musk wrote that the goal was for X's recommendation engine to "be purely AI" and that the company would share its open source algorithm about every two weeks. "To the degree that people are seeing improvements in their feed, it is not due to the actions of specific individuals changing heuristics, but rather increasing use of Grok and other AI tools," Musk wrote in October.
It's one thing to see the source code behind the recommendation engine. It's another to see the source code and training data that produce the AI models that are used by that engine. I wonder whether we're going to see the latter.
Re:But will this tell us anything? (Score:4, Interesting)
>"It's one thing to see the source code behind the recommendation engine. It's another to see the source code and training data that produce the AI models that are used by that engine. I wonder whether we're going to see the latter."
I was wondering the same thing. Open-sourcing the algorithm code is great. But if it relies more and more on some AI "black box" to make the decisions, then that open code isn't going to be but so revealing. Still, it could be useful, since you would see what queries are (and are not) going to the AI and when/how. And what actions are taken with the responses.
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Grok's standing orders leaked out long ago, and are basically "do what Elon Musk would do". It gets trained on his posts.
I left twitter and won't come back until that gets fixed and it's de-nazified.
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Not sure why you're modded Troll, as this is commonsense.
But the other side of this is that if you buy the local pub and turn it into a Nazi bar, the regulars will, over time, stop coming, and all you're left with is a dumb echo chamber.
Musk has the benefit that social networks are hard to break free of. But the huge growth of Threads, and even the less spectacular but still obvious growth of Mastodon and BlueSky, suggests all he's done is essentially weaken his megaphone.
I suspect Ellison will find the sam
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Great post. Thanks for it. But one comment:
But nobody sane wants to listen to a neverending spew of misinformation and smears against ordinary people and marginalized groups other than that subset of conservatives that's gone far off the deep end.
Sanity is not always an effective defense against misinformation. Its purveyors try to create fear, anger, or confusion to get you hooked. And alas, it works.
Reason, skepticism, and fact-checking are better defenses IMHO.
Sure! (Score:3, Insightful)
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Correct. There is no reason to believe that ANY twitter code will be exposed to the public.
First Rule in Algorithm is Probably: (Score:2)
If user == Elon Musk, set priority = max ;-) :-O
It's a jest, but it's probably more right than wrong.
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https://theconversation.com/te... [theconversation.com]
https://www.theverge.com/2023/... [theverge.com]
https://www.reddit.com/r/elonm... [reddit.com]
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Elon's tweets will still be promoted. (Score:3)
Anyone who thinks that Elon's BS won't still be promoted in the recommended feed, I'll have a nice bride to sell you.
He can show whatever code he wants. Doesn't mean that internally that's actually the one they run.
Re:Elon's tweets will still be promoted. (Score:5, Funny)
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I had no idea that anyone posted on Twitter, I mean X, any more. That is news!
We hear you loud and clear. Virtue signalled. Is there any other point to that post? /. all know already how bad Xitter is, and Facebook, Tik Tok etc.
I think we hear at
But around half a billion people, by the way, use X monthly. Deplorables as you might call them. Small compared to Facebook and Instagram,
its enough to make the "no idea" comment petty and immature.
Re:Twitter, I mean X is still extant? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Twitter, I mean X is still extant? (Score:5, Insightful)
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that's not it. Here's one: https://www.theguardian.com/uk... [theguardian.com]
And you tell me his honest intentions and interest regarding the small town of Dundee in Scotland.
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Also, Dundee is not a small town. I have friends from there. Had a friend who moved there and got murdered in a home invasion.
Anyhow, I went ahead and found reporting from an outlet that hasn't officially abandoned journalism, and it looks to me like Musk just reposted existing rumors. Rumor mongering is a bad thing, but unless you can show me that he was well aware beforehand that
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Why would he repost some local news from some town in Scotland? I meant small in terms of international fame; it's not Glasgow or Edinburgh. It doesn't matter if he's aware or not, it was a pot-stirring immigrant-hate opportunity, reality be damned. Who cares about the whole story or the actual details these days, right? It's easy to repost a picture and a headline, and make your own context with your own biases, the "beauty" of social media. But go on and find excuses for him. Who cares about the Guardian
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It is interesting about how every online conversation on SPaceX, Tesla, X gets dominated by peoples feelings on Musks personality. Don't you think?
No it's not interesting at all. The personalities of the people running companies which exert tremendous power are critical and have a direct impact on people's lives.
Zuckerberg is a far worse person IMHO
You may say "oh wowes me, my privacy" but so far Zuckerberg has never directly killed anyone by dangerously promoting capabilities his product wasn't capable of (self driving), or turned off the communications system of an "allied" army in the middle of a war after a phone call with the leader of the enemy.
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Hey now there's plenty of space for both of these men to have led to deaths:
Amnesty report finds Facebook amplified hate ahead of Rohingya massacre in Myanmar [pbs.org]
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Indeed there is. I said directly. The massacre is the indirect result of amplifying hate, where as Musk himself was the single person who decided to cut off Ukraine. It's like comparing murder to negligent homicide.
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For sure there's plenty of despicable behaviour to go around, what he did to Ukraine was bad enough and mighty suspicious.
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At this point the Elon Musk from 2011 and the Elon Musk we have here in 2026 may as well be two different people, he slept next to the pod and got body snatched.
Take 2011 Elon Musk, fry most of it's empathy center with benzos and ketamine, give it a solid white nationalist streak and give it the Facebook feed of your cranky racist uncle and you've created 2026 Elon Musk.
He was not in fact forced to buy Twitter, all the things people talk about, those were choices he made so he reaps the repercussions and po
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At this point the Elon Musk from 2011 and the Elon Musk we have here in 2026 may as well be two different people,
Thats a great way to look at it. I'll steal that.
He was not in fact forced to buy Twitter,
Well, after he made the offer, and later realised how stupid it was, he was in fact forced to complete the deal.
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>"Can you explain maybe the mindset of people who support the platform of a guy"
Has it occurred to you that most people don't care about who owns it? They just use X as a communication tool and don't follow him or his posts? (And no, I don't use any social networks).
>"who publicly sieg heils"
That was/is a bunch of nonsense.
>"and also very publicly, blatantly and unashamedly tries to sow political discord?"
I think he is on at least one "spectrum" :)
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That was/is a bunch of nonsense
Plausible deniability aplenty. Support for things like Reform UK and AfD says otherwise.
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Neither performed a Nazi salute.
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>But around half a billion people, by the way, use X monthly.
How many are bot accounts? 70% - 80%?
Probably.
Does this include all the input data? (Score:2)
Does this include all the inputs to neural networks and other "AI" things that are being used to determine what you see in your feed?
If it doesn't include the inputs (or where the inputs are somehow derived from user-specific data associated with your account, show you how to actually get those same inputs from your account data) then it is useless.
No, they won’t (Score:4, Insightful)
This is probably meant to distract from the grok-porn developments. Any traction on this issue will have to be done outside the US. Musk has purchased absolute immunity from the Trump organization, for basically anything. It’ll last until the current admin is out of office. I have mixed feelings about this. Regarding X, it’s being used for slimy purposes. For SpaceX, he’s using it to neutralize government opposition to Starship, and I’m 110 percent behind that specific effort.
Github already has Twitter source code (Score:1)
Here's the link:
https://github.com/twitter/the-algorithm?tab=readme-ov-file
I don't know if this was Twitter's original source code and, after Musk bought the company, he changed the code. In any case, am sharing this because it's not mentioned in the new story that Twitter -- apparently -- already has shared their source code/
Just a fun reminder (Score:3)
This is because computers are very very good at making connections. And the Nazis and the Republicans both use the same dog whistles just a few steps removed here and there.
The most famous example is welfare queen. Welfare was chosen as a way to reference blacks and queen is a way to reference gay people. It was a easy and effective way to say something bad about black people and gay people without actually just flat out saying it. That's a dog whistle.
The problem is that computer algorithms are surprisingly smart when it comes to figuring out dog whistles because they can see the connections very very quickly without belonging to a specific group. Normally it takes quite a bit of time and quite a bit of immersion in politics before you recognize the dog whistle when you see it but a computer is going to do it instantaneously and without regard who is saying the dog whistle.
So when a republican politician goes on a tirade about welfare Queens the computer knows what they're talking about and was flagging them as the white supremacist that they are.
You can still find the articles about this on Google surprisingly. Search for something like "Twitter can't use an algorithm to detect Nazis because of Republican politicians" and you'll find them.
Now to bring this back to the point of the article so I don't get modded off topic there is no way muskrat is going to properly open source the algorithm because it would open up that discussion again. It's going to be like the Epstein files where we see bits and pieces of it with a lot of obvious redactions
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This is useless... unless (Score:2)
What everybody really wants is their algorithms for making child porn.