Elon Musk, in an effort to combat data scraping, particularly by AI companies like OpenAI, implemented two measures on Twitter. First, he temporarily restricted "logged out view," preventing access to tweets without an account. This impacted Google's ability to index tweets, causing a temporary disruption in search results. Second, he implemented rate limits, resulting in error messages for users who scrolled extensively. This was done after an increase in logged-in requests indicated that scrapers were circumventing the initial restriction.
Data scraping from Twitter was a known issue, used by AI firms to train large language models. Musk's actions were fueled by his concerns about AI safety and his rivalry with OpenAI, a company he co-founded but later left.
Musk's actions had unintended consequences, highlighting the complexities of managing a social media platform while combating data scraping. The temporary restriction of "logged out view" was concerning due to its potential impact on freedom of speech. The subsequent rate limits caused user inconvenience. The situation underscores the ongoing tension between the needs of large AI firms and the desire to control data access on social media platforms.