Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
This weekend saw one of the most curious moves by Twitter under Elon Musk’s leadership yet: The Twitter brand is being abandoned as the company rebrands to X. Musk and crew announced the change over the weekend, promising that further expansions of Twitter functionality that could include payments and banking are on the way.
The move to shed the Twitter brand in favor of new X branding was discussed over the weekend and reportedly carried out on July 23, 2023. Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino would go on to share that the move from Twitter to X marks a new chapter for the platform, which should hopefully see a major expansion of functionality as time goes on.
“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,” Yaccarino wrote. “Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”
As further clarification, Yaccarino sent an email to Twitter employees this week, as obtained by CNBC. The contents of that memo can be fount below.
Yaccarino’s statement brings up a few key points, namely that this move also comes soon after Elon Musk launched the xAI group with a gathering of AI tech developers aimed at “understanding reality”. It seems like a no-brainer that part of xAI’s duty is working on the artificial intelligence mentioned by Yaccarino that runs the X platform. Yaccarino also brings up banking and payments. It seems in moving to X, Twitter could also expand to include a PayPal-like service that lets users store and send money throughout the platform.
It remains to be seen what long-term effects and consequences the rebrand from Twitter to X has for the company. For right now, it looks like we’re saying bye to the blue bird as the company moves for the much more simplified X.