Elon Musk confirms Twitter has become X.com

Published May 17, 2024
This screengrab shows part of the page displayed when accessing X.com while signed out of the platform. — AFP
This screengrab shows part of the page displayed when accessing X.com while signed out of the platform. — AFP

The social network formerly known as Twitter has fully migrated over to X.com, owner Elon Musk said on Friday.

The billionaire head of Tesla, SpaceX and other companies bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and announced the rebrand to X last July.

Although the logo and branding were changed to “X”, the domain name remained Twitter.com until Friday.

“All core systems are now on X.com,” Musk wrote on X, posting an image of a logo of a white X on a blue circle.

Queries to Twitter.com redirected users to X.com on Friday morning, though the original domain name still appeared on some browsers.

Musk has repeatedly used the letter X in the branding of his companies, starting in 1999 with his attempt to set up an online financial superstore called X.com.

When he bought Twitter, he set up a company called X Corp to close the deal. Musk has said he wants “X” to become a super-app along the lines of China’s WeChat.

The Chinese app is much bigger than X and weaves together messaging, voice and video calling, social media, mobile payment, games, news, online booking and other services.

He has also bolted onto X an AI chatbot called “Grok”, which was launched in Europe this week.

Musk’s leadership of X has proved controversial.

He has fired thousands of staff, overseen major technical problems and reinstated accounts of right-wing conspiracy theorists, as well as former US president Donald Trump.

European regulators have also begun probes into X and other social media platforms over fears of misinformation.

The EU demanded earlier this month that X explain its decision to cut content moderation staff, giving the firm a deadline of Friday. AFP has contacted X for their response.

Opinion

Editorial

Pension burden
Updated 29 Jun, 2024

Pension burden

The cost of inaction has been enormous; the national pension bill has risen 50 times during the last 20 years.
‘Hot pursuit’
29 Jun, 2024

‘Hot pursuit’

WHILE Pakistan faces a major problem in the form of terrorists from Afghanistan infiltrating the country,...
Of fatal flaws
29 Jun, 2024

Of fatal flaws

IT is remarkable how chaos seems to be the only constant with the PTI. Late on Thursday, it emerged that the...
PM spurned
Updated 28 Jun, 2024

PM spurned

The PM must ensure PTI is allowed to function just like any other political party while the latter must not set rigid conditions.
Gaza’s journalists
28 Jun, 2024

Gaza’s journalists

Israel does not want other voices to be heard, and is adamant on spinning its blood-soaked campaign in Gaza as a ‘just war’.
Chinese industries
28 Jun, 2024

Chinese industries

PRIME MINISTER Shehbaz Sharif appears to be pushing the rusty bureaucratic machinery hard to turn nearly three dozen...