42,000 accounts that automated replies with chatbots were removed by X last week, according to product head Nikita Bier, who said AI engagement without a human "runs counter" to the platform’s mission.
Bier said most of the banned accounts were posting AI-themed "thought-leadership slop" to grow followings and win paid promotions, arguing that 99.99% of spam on X is economically motivated.
The cleanup may barely dent the problem: outside estimates have put fake-account levels on X anywhere from under 5% to 15%, while researcher Filippo Menczer said Twitter once suspended more than 42,000 accounts per week before generative AI surged.
Pangram’s July report suggests the issue extends across social media, estimating that half of X posts are AI-assisted or fully AI-generated and more than 40% of LinkedIn posts are entirely AI-generated.
X’s purge fits a wider industry shift from moderating harmful content toward identifying whether content comes from humans at all, even as platforms such as Substack, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn keep adding and policing AI tools.