xai-org/grok-build, now open source
The Grok Build CLI from xAI unintentionally uploaded entire user directories to the company’s Google Cloud storage, prompting privacy concerns. In response, xAI disabled the upload feature, deleted previously retained data, and changed default retention settings. The company also open‑sourced the Grok Build code under an Apache 2.0 license to restore user trust.
- ▪Running the Grok Build command in a directory caused the tool to upload all files, including sensitive data, to xAI’s Google Cloud buckets.
- ▪Elon Musk announced that all previously uploaded data would be deleted and the default data‑retention setting was turned off as a precaution.
- ▪xAI released the Grok Build codebase under an Apache 2.0 license, enabling users to run the tool locally and inspect its implementation.
- ▪The repository contains over 844,000 lines of Rust code, with remnants of the disabled upload functionality still present.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
xai-org/grok-build, now open source (via) xAI's grok CLI tool faced severe community backlash yesterday when it became apparent that running the command in a directory could upload that entire directory to xAI's Google Cloud buckets. One user reported running it in their home directory and seeing it upload "my SSH keys, my password manager database, my documents, photos, videos, everything". I've not seen an official explanation for why it was doing this, but xAI did respond to the feedback (Musk: "As a precautionary measure, all user data that was uploaded to SpaceXAI before now will be completely and utterly deleted.") and have disabled the feature.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Simon Willison's Weblog.
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