Grok's share button creates unique URLs for chat sessions that are published on Grok's website and become discoverable via search engines. The share action displays only a "Copied shared link to clipboard" message with no explicit warning about public indexing. Grok's terms grant xAI broad, irrevocable rights to use, copy, modify, reproduce, publish, and aggregate user content worldwide. Users who enabled sharing have likely consented to those terms. Users can view and remove public share links at grok.com/share-links, but removal's effect on search engine de-indexing remains unclear. Over 370,000 Grok chats were searchable, some containing harmful instructions.
As Forbes reports, the issue stems from the chatbot's share button. Every time a user clicks the button from the bottom of a chat window, it generates a unique, shareable URL. While most users might assume it's a private link only accessible to the people they share it with, the link actually gets published on Grok's website, making the content discoverable on search engines.
As CNET points out, Grok's terms of service grant the website "an irrevocable, perpetual, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, and worldwide right to xAI to use, copy, store, modify, distribute, reproduce, publish, display in public forums, list information regarding, make derivative works of, and aggregate your User Content and derivative works thereof for any purpose." If you use Grok, chances are you have already agreed to this condition.
For now, to stop Grok from publishing your chats online, avoid using its share button -at least until xAI, the chatbot's parent company, changes its stance on the feature. Additionally, head to grok.com/share-links to see which of your chats are currently accessible through public links. The page also lets you revoke access to those links by clicking on the "Remove" button next to them. While this action makes the links unusable, it's unclear if it also de-indexes them from search engines.
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