Editing News-June-22-2026 (section)

== Musk Asks FTC to End X Data-Handling Order After xAI and SpaceX Mergers ==
The Federal Trade Commission opened a public-comment period on X Corp.'s petition to set aside or modify the FTC's privacy and data-security order concerning Twitter/X, with comments due July 2, 2026.<ref name="ftc-x-comment" /> Ars Technica reported that the order stems from Twitter's 2022 settlement over using phone numbers and email addresses provided for two-factor authentication for targeted advertising, and that the order requires independent audits and FTC access to compliance information through 2042.<ref name="ars-x-ftc">[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/elon-musk-tries-again-to-escape-ftc-audits-of-x-data-handling/ Ars Technica, "Elon Musk tries again to escape FTC audits of X data handling" (June 22, 2026)]</ref>

X's petition argues that the order should be ended because Twitter no longer exists as a separate company after X was merged into xAI and xAI was later folded into SpaceX.<ref name="x-petition">[https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/X-Corp-petition-to-set-aside-FTC-consent-decree-5-15-26.pdf X Corp., "Petition to Set Aside or Modify Order" (May 15, 2026)]</ref> The petition also invokes the Trump administration's AI Action Plan, arguing that X and xAI are part of a corporate family at the center of U.S. AI ambitions and that continued compliance obligations divert engineering resources from innovation to paperwork.<ref name="x-petition" />

The development is significant for AI law because it links legacy platform-privacy enforcement to AI corporate integration and training-data governance after X's data assets became part of the xAI/SpaceX corporate structure.<ref name="ars-x-ftc" /> Public comments already filed in the FTC docket include concerns that the combined entity may have incentives to train AI systems on user data, making continued FTC oversight more important rather than less important.<ref name="reg-comment">[https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FTC-2026-0727-0010 Regulations.gov, Comment on FTC-2026-0727 concerning X Corp. petition (June 2026)]</ref>