Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter, has announced plans to rename the social media platform to “X.” Musk made the announcement in a series of tweets on Saturday night, saying that he wanted to “embody the imperfections in us all that make us unique.”
Musk also said that the Twitter bird logo would be replaced with a stylized X. He shared an animated gif of the new logo, which is a black X against a stark white background.
The name change is the latest in a series of changes that Musk has made to Twitter since he acquired the company in October 2022. Musk has also said that he plans to make Twitter a more open and free platform for speech.
Yaccarino the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter described X as “the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.” She said that X will be powered by AI, and will connect people in ways that we’re just beginning to imagine.
“For years, fans and critics alike have pushed Twitter to dream bigger, to innovate faster, and to fulfill our great potential,” said Yaccarino. “X will do that and more. We’ve already started to see X take shape over the past 8 months through our rapid feature launches, but we’re just getting started. There’s absolutely no limit to this transformation. X will be the platform that can deliver, well…everything.”
The name change has been met with mixed reactions from Twitter users. Some users have welcomed the change, saying that it is a fresh start for the company. Others have criticized the change, saying that it is unnecessary and that the Twitter bird logo is iconic.
It is unclear when the name change will take effect. Musk said that he would make the change “soon,” but he did not give a specific timeline.