X removes 4,000 creators from monetisation programme as Grok cracks down on stolen content
Digitnomics 
By Francisca Anuforo
Social media platform X has removed nearly 4,000 creators from its revenue-sharing programme in a major crackdown on content theft and engagement manipulation, as it expands the use of its Grok artificial intelligence model to identify policy violations.
The move, announced by X’s Head of Product, Nikita Bier, signals a tougher enforcement strategy aimed at ensuring that creators who produce original content receive advertising revenue rather than accounts that recycle or copy viral posts.
According to Bier, creators who repeatedly publish engagement bait—including posts encouraging users to reply in exchange for follows—will now face removal from the platform’s monetisation programme. Accounts found violating the policy multiple times may also be referred to X’s policy team for possible suspension.
“Grok now catches all of these,” Bier said while confirming that almost 4,000 accounts had already been removed following the latest enforcement exercise.
X later clarified that users who made similar promotional posts during a brief period earlier in the week to celebrate recent algorithm updates would not be affected, as those posts were exempted from enforcement.
AI now detects copied content more effectively
Beyond engagement bait, X says it has significantly improved Grok’s ability to identify duplicated content across the platform.
The company said the latest AI model detects copied posts at three times the rate of its predecessor. It can identify reposted videos and duplicated text even when users attempt to disguise them with watermarks, introductions or other edits.
Under the updated system, monetised impressions generated from duplicated content will no longer benefit the account that reposted it. Instead, the advertising revenue will be credited to the original creator.
During its latest review, X said it detected approximately 1.5 million stolen posts and expects more than $1 million in creator payouts to be redirected to the rightful content owners.
The company warned that users who repeatedly attempt to circumvent the detection system risk permanent removal from its creator revenue-sharing programme.
Growing use of AI in platform moderation
The latest enforcement reflects a broader trend among social media companies that are increasingly deploying artificial intelligence to strengthen platform integrity.
While generative AI has attracted attention for creating text, images and videos, technology firms are also investing heavily in AI systems capable of detecting bots, preventing fraud, enforcing community standards and protecting creator earnings.
Earlier this year, Bier disclosed that X’s AI systems were identifying and suspending more than 200 bot accounts every minute, underscoring the expanding role of automation in content moderation.
What the changes mean for creators
For original content creators, the crackdown could translate into higher earnings as revenue previously diverted to copied content is redirected to legitimate owners.
However, creators who depend largely on reposting trending videos, screenshots, memes or popular text posts may struggle to remain eligible for monetisation if Grok identifies their content as duplicated.
The latest measures reinforce X’s growing emphasis on rewarding originality and limiting financial incentives for content recycling, as competition among creator platforms increasingly shifts from simply generating engagement to ensuring that revenue reaches those who create the content in the first place.
