X is using Grok to hunt down content thieves — and redirect creator earnings to the rightful owners

For creators who make money through X's revenue-sharing programme, simply reposting someone else's viral content may no longer pay.

The social media platform has announced a tougher enforcement drive against content theft and engagement manipulation, introducing new AI-powered detection systems designed to identify copied posts more effectively and ensure that advertising revenue reaches the people who created the content in the first place.

The changes are being driven by the latest version of Grok, X's in-house artificial intelligence model. According to Nikita Bier, the platform's Head of Product, the upgraded AI can identify duplicated content at three times the rate achieved by the previous model, making it significantly harder for users to profit from recycled posts.

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The move comes as social media platforms increasingly grapple with a familiar problem. Viral posts often spread far beyond their original audience, frequently being reposted by other accounts that attract fresh engagement and, in some cases, financial rewards. Platforms including Instagram, Facebook and Reddit have already introduced systems aimed at recognising duplicated content and discouraging users from passing off someone else's work as their own.

X is now taking a similar route, but with a direct financial consequence.

Rather than allowing copied posts to generate payouts for accounts that repost them, the company says monetised impressions generated by duplicated content will instead be credited to the original creator. The policy also targets attempts to disguise copied material through superficial edits such as watermarks, introductory clips or other visual modifications designed to make reposted content appear original.

The detection system is not limited to videos. Bier said it also applies to copied text posts, highlighting how frequently popular one-liners are reposted across the platform. One example he cited was the phrase, "Twitter is like the smoking section of the internet", which continues to circulate widely despite the platform's rebranding to X.

According to Bier, the company identified around 1.5 million stolen posts during its most recent enforcement cycle, although he did not specify the period covered by those figures. As a result of the updated system, more than $1 million in creator payments will now be redirected to the users who originally published the content instead of those who reposted it.

The crackdown extends beyond copied material. X is also increasing penalties for creators who attempt to artificially inflate engagement through so-called engagement bait — posts that encourage users to reply, repost or follow in exchange for attention or promises of reciprocal interaction.

Under the revised rules, repeated attempts to manipulate engagement could have lasting consequences. Bier said creators caught three or more times using tactics such as promising to follow everyone who replies will be removed from X's creator monetisation programme. Their accounts may also be referred to the company's policy team for possible suspension.

Bier has criticised engagement bait publicly in the past, arguing that such tactics undermine meaningful interactions on the platform. He has previously called out high-profile creators, including YouTube star MrBeast, over the use of financial incentives to encourage audience participation.

Alongside these measures, X says it continues to strengthen its efforts against automated spam accounts, many of which rely on AI tools to mass-produce low-quality content and amplify copied posts. Earlier this year, Bier revealed that the platform was detecting and suspending 208 bots every minute, with that figure continuing to rise as its detection systems improve.

The company has also been encouraging creators to publish original material directly on X rather than reposting content produced elsewhere. Recent updates to the platform include enhanced video recording and editing tools intended to make native content creation easier.