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

Burdening the people
Updated 30 Jun, 2024

Burdening the people

The tax-heavy budget will make lives of avg Pakistanis even harder and falls far short of inspiring confidence in govt's ability to execute structural changes.
WikiLeaks’ legacy
30 Jun, 2024

WikiLeaks’ legacy

THE recent release from captivity of WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange has presented an opportunity to revisit the...
Iranian run-off
30 Jun, 2024

Iranian run-off

FRIDAY’S snap presidential election in Iran, called after the shock deaths of Ebrahim Raisi and members of his...
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...