Elon Musk’s Twitter rebranded as X. Here’s why

The featured blue bird perched on social media platform Twitter disappeared Sunday as part of the company rebranded to a new name: X.

The reshuffle marks the latest change enacted by billionaire owner Elon Musk, who stepped down as CEO last month but retains a prominent role in the company.

Promising to expand AI-powered website capabilities, X aims to follow the logo change with an ambitious foray into online banking and video messaging, among other areas, CEO Linda Yaccarino speak on Sunday.

“It’s an extremely rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression,” tweeted Yaccarino, who previously worked as an advertising director at NBCUniversal.

“Twitter has made a big impression and changed the way we communicate,” she added. “Now, X will go further, transforming the global city square.”

Here’s what to know about X, what sets it apart from Twitter, and Musk’s role in the rebranding.

What’s new with X?

For now, X is a rebranded Twitter — but the company on Sunday revealed plans to give users a single storefront for many of their online needs.

The aspiration has been public for as long as last year. Days after acquiring Twitter, in October, Musk tweeted: “Buy Twitter is an accelerator for making X, the app of everything.”

Taking a step closer earlier this month, Musk founded an artificial intelligence company called xAI, which promised to develop a general AI program that would rival already-existing services like ChatGPT.

Describing X’s goal as “unlimited interaction”, Yaccarino speak on Sunday that the company plans to become an online messaging and commerce hub.

“Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we are just beginning to imagine,” Yaccarino said.

The best example of what Musk means by “everything app” is WeChat, a very popular app in China that serves not only as a messaging and media-sharing platform but also as a versatile tool in which users pay friends, buy products and make reservations, among other uses, analysts previously told ABC News.

Why did Twitter rebrand to X?

The rebranding reached a transitional stage and the company found itself in financial trouble.

Last month, Yaccarino took over as CEO, elevating her to a clear leader alongside Musk, who remains executive chairman and chief technology officer. Musk is also the CEO of Space X.

Meanwhile, the company has lost 50% of its advertising revenue and faces negative cash flow, meaning it spends more on expenses than it gets in revenue, Musk said. tweeted in the first day of this month.

Before being acquired by Musk, Twitter made most of its revenue from advertising, but many major companies have pulled ads from the platform amid what some have described as a proliferation of obscene and hateful content.

Additionally, X faces a new threat from the emerging social media platform Threads, which is owned by parent company Facebook Meta. Threads hit 100 million users within five days, setting the record as the fastest app to achieve this ever.

By comparison, Twitter had 238 million users before Musk took the company private in October, the company said in a statement. income statement last year.

What role did Musk play in the rebranding?

Musk’s interest in the “X” dates back more than two decades.

In 1999, Musk founded an online banking and payment company called X.com, which later merged with PayPal.

Musk acquired the URL “X.com” in 2017. It now directs visitors to Twitter.

“Not sure what subtle clues revealed it, but I like the X,” Musk speak in a Tweet on Sunday along with a photo of him crossing his arms to form the letter.

“And we will soon say goodbye to the twitter brand and gradually all birds,” he more.