Grok Bot Reads and Replies to X Chat DMs, Can Become Android’s Default Assistant
According to Tesla North’s October 20 report, Matt Palmer of SpaceXSI, who works on Cursor and Grok Bot, posted a “What’s new in Grok Bot” video on X on Tuesday morning, announcing that Grok Bot can now read and respond to users’ X Chat DMs, take on tasks when tagged @bot in any thread, and be set as the default digital assistant on Android phones.

What happened
Palmer walked through 12 changes in the five-minute video, spending the most time on the X Chat feature. “Bot can now read your X chat DMs and respond,” he said in the video, calling it a feature that had been “asked for like a million times” and adding that limits are in place so “you can’t spam people.” Per Tesla North, Palmer did not say whether a Bot needs the user’s approval before each reply goes out.
The video also confirmed that users can tag @bot in any X thread and it will “do whatever you ask it to” — for example saving a post or explaining something just seen on the timeline — with the X plugin installed and configured first. On Android, Grok Bot can now be chosen as the phone’s default assistant, a day after it gained one-press access through the iPhone’s Action Button; voice calls keep the previous call and its full transcript if you call back within 30 minutes. Elon Musk had already pointed people toward the feature on October 16, writing that users should ask Grok Bot to connect to their X DMs — “Best way to use it.”
Key facts
- DMs:Grok Bot can read and reply to X Chat DMs; Palmer said limits are in place against spam but did not say whether each reply needs user approval (per Tesla North).
- @ mentions:tagging @bot in any X thread lets it take on tasks such as saving posts or explaining timeline content; the X plugin must be installed and configured first.
- Android:can be set as the phone’s default digital assistant, a day after gaining one-press access via the iPhone’s Action Button.
- Voice:calling back within 30 minutes preserves the previous call and its full transcript.
- More:redesigned chat cards, a faster bot computer, highlighted draft edits, email aliases, new connectors, collapsed notifications, team invites and access lists.
Why it matters
an AI assistant gets read-and-reply access to users’ private messages for the first time, pushing its permission boundary from the public timeline into private conversations; Palmer left open whether each reply needs the user’s approval.
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