Social network X quietly removed Google Translate and replaced it with its own Grok model. Automatic post translation is rolling out worldwide — without extra clicks, appearing directly below the original text. In parallel, iOS gained a built-in photo editor with text commands and a tool for blurring faces and sensitive data.
What changed technically
Previously, X used Google Translate — a third-party service integrated via API. Now translation is processed by Grok directly within the platform. Grok replaced Google Translate as the primary translation tool on X. According to product lead Nikita Bier, translation quality "has improved significantly over the past few months."
The photo editor is available in the post composer on iOS and allows making changes through natural language requests — for example, asking Grok to "place the painting in a museum" or blur faces in photos. An Android version has been announced as the next step.
Convenience with a downside
This is where it gets interesting. According to X's official documentation, the platform may transmit user data — public profile, posts, interactions with Grok, and entered prompts — to xAI company. It is separately noted that voice inputs, transcriptions, and translations can also be transmitted to xAI for personalization purposes.
This means: if auto-translation is enabled by default and a user hasn't entered settings — their content participates in improving xAI's model. It can be disabled via the gear icon on a specific post or through general language settings.
"Auto-translation gives posts in any language global reach on X. If you prefer to read in the original language — you can always turn it off."
Nikita Bier, product lead at X
Why this is more than just an update
For Musk, integrating Grok into X is not merely for user convenience. Removing Google Translate in mid-2025 was a deliberate strategic decision signaling that xAI capabilities are considered ready for production. Every translation, every photo edit — this data stays within the xAI ecosystem rather than going to Google or another partner.
The scale of the platform — hundreds of millions of posts daily in different languages — transforms this "convenient feature" into one of the world's largest streams of multilingual data for LLM training.
The question is not whether Grok will become a better translator. The question is: will anything change for users if they massively start disabling data transmission — and will X then be less eager to promote this feature?
