Hey, everybody. Welcome back. To the. Elon Musk podcast This is a show. Where we? Discuss the critical crossroads. That shape? SpaceX. Tesla X, The Boring Company. And Neuralink. I'm your host, Will Walden. Elon Musk has officially rebranded Twitter asx.com, signifying the complete transformation of the social media platform. This move marks the end of Twitter's identity a year and a half after Musk acquired the
company. Now, Musk announced on Friday morning that all core systems are now on x.com. This change means that Twitter.com no longer exists as a URL and users are redirected to x.com. Users logging onto the platform were greeted with a message, Welcome to x.com. We are letting you know that we are changing our URL, but your privacy and data protection systems remain the same Now. This marks the final step in
Musk's rebranding effort. The journey to rebrand Twitter began over a year ago and Musk's attorneys filed a court document on April 4th, 2023 stating Quote, Twitter Inc has been merged into X Corp and no longer exists. However, the website and app continued to operate under the
Twitter name until recently. The rebranding initiative accelerated when Musk expressed dissatisfaction with the Twitter name, which he felt was outdated given the platform's evolution beyond a 140 character tweets to include longer posts and multimedia content. Musk had hinted at the creation of X, the Everything app, in October 2022, around the time he acquired Twitter for $44 billion.
He introduced the X logo last August and attempted to replace the Twitter headquarters sign with a flashing X, though police intervened and halted the effort.
Now the name change aligns with Musk's pattern of using the letter X in his other ventures such as SpaceX and the Tesla Model X, and reflects his long standing associated with x.com, a financial services website he started before Co founding PayPal. Now, Musk has indicated that X could evolve into a super app similar to China as WeChat, which integrate services like messaging, social media, mobile
payments, car rides, and more. And However, Musk has not yet introduced any of these features on x.com, and the transformation of Twitter into X has been accompanied by significant changes and controversies. Musk has fired thousands of staff overseeing technical issues and reinstated accounts of controversial figures, including former President Donald Trump. Now European regulators have scrutinized Musk's management of X, particularly concerning misinformation and content moderation.
The EU demanded an explanation for the reduction in content moderation staff, setting a deadline for the company to respond. The social media platforms rebranding to x.com follows Musk's history of branding ventures. In 1999, Musk attempted to create an online financial superstore named x.com, which later became part of PayPal, and the acquisition of Twitter in October 2022 marked the beginning of a tumultuous period
for the company. Musk initially offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 per share, backed out over concerns about fake accounts, and then recommitted to the purchase. And after finalizing acquisition in October 2022, Musk implemented major changes, including significant layoffs and a shift in content moderation policies. He cited the need to reduce costs as a reason for these layoffs. Now, Musk's leadership of the platformnowx.com has been marked by a series of changes that have
sparked under criticism. Now, despite the rebranding, remnants of Twitter's identities, such as support links, have lingered but are gradually being phased out. The rebranding process has not been without technical difficulties. Issues like automatic replacement of Twitter.com links in the iOS app and inconsistencies in URL redirection across multiple browsers have complicated the issue.
Now users have experienced varying results with the rebranding depending on their browser and login status. Some encountered error messages or remained on Twitter.com instead of being redirected to x.com and must continues to develop X, incorporating new features like the AI chatbot croc which launched in Europe recently. And despite these additions, the full vision of X as an Everything app remains to be realized.
Elon has finally completed the rebranding of X from Twitter, marking the end of Twitter's 17 year run. Musk has a vision for a super app, although many of the details of its future remain unclear and we're just gonna wait and find out what happens to x.com in the coming weeks. Hey, thank you so much for listening today. I really do appreciate your support.
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