X launches AI-curated audiences for advertisers

X introduces the means for advertisers to define target audiences, while X’s AI generates relevant user pools.

The business account for social media platform X announced a new feature for advertisers enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI). 

On May 10, the platform said its “AI Audience” feature will be coming soon. This feature will allow advertisers to briefly describe their target audience for the given ad, then allow X’s AI systems to generate a pool of “the most relevant X users” to that target in a matter of seconds.

Coming soon: AI Audiences

Briefly describe the target audience for your ads and our AI systems will generate a pool of the most relevant X users to target in seconds. pic.twitter.com/5XUWDHDQ0h

— Business (@XBusiness) May 9, 2024

It gave the example of a user inputting the target audience as “Technology Leaders” with the description “users who are leaders in technology.” In seconds, the AI generated a list with hundreds of users in the target audience, along with statistics for the demographic. 

The post was reposted by X owner Elon Musk, though without any additional comment on the development.

Meanwhile, in response to the initial post, one user commented that this would be a “gamer changer” for the world of advertising and “value for your money” on the platform. He questioned, however, how good the AI is at targeting accurate audiences.

If the AI proves efficient over time at correctly identifying target audiences, this move could put X ahead of other platforms when it comes to advertising, as other platforms would still require research for targeting correct audiences. 

However, other users were concerned about the AI reinforcing and perpetuating biases and stereotypes.

Another user questioned what exactly X is selling and “to whom.” The user said, “I thought I am the one paying so X doesn’t have to pimp me to brands and sell me to corporations.” 

Despite some skepticism, many users called the development “exciting” and “really smart.”

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This development comes amid Musk’s proactive stance on integrating AI into the social media platform. 

On March 26, Musk announced that X’s own AI model, Grok, would be accessible to all premium X subscribers. On March 29, the next version of the model, Grok-1.5, was announced. It is said to have “improved reasoning capabilities” and a context length of 128,000 tokens.

Amid a lawsuit between Musk and OpenAI, with which he formerly had ties, on March 11, the X owner said that he would be making Grok open-source.

Although Musk’s AI company xAI has been actively developing new tools for mass use, in January, Musk denied the accuracy of a report that claimed xAI had secured $500 million of its $1 billion investment goal.