Elon Musk says Twitter will become X in corporate rebranding

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Elon Musk plans to replace Twitter’s iconic bird logo with an ‘X’, in a major corporate rebranding that comes as the company has struggled to attract advertising and is battling increased competition.

Musk announced the revamp on Sunday, saying on the social media platform that “soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds”. He added: “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make [it] go live worldwide tomorrow.”

Musk has already made significant changes to Twitter since he bought the company last year, changing its name to X Corp in filings as part of his plans to create an “everything app” under the brand “X”.

On Sunday, Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s new chief executive, laid out the vision for ‘X’ at a meeting with top marketers in Napa, California, making a plea to those present to work with the company on its new ambitions as changes start to roll out in the coming weeks.

The company plans to shift from being a text-focused platform to integrating more audio, video and payments features, and is looking to woo advertisers as well as partner with broadcasters or payments groups.

Yaccarino also told the board of the Mobile Marketing Association, a trade association for marketers, that the company plans to wield artificial intelligence by working closely with Musk’s new AI company, xAI, according to Twitter. Twitter data could be used to train the AI models developed by xAI. In turn, xAI’s technology could be used to improve Twitter, the company said.

“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity — centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking — creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,” Yaccarino tweeted on Sunday.

“Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” she said.

Twitter has come under increasing pressure since Musk closed his $44bn acquisition of the company in October. The billionaire entrepreneur has slashed the workforce as he cut costs, while radical policy changes have frustrated users and advertisers, with advertising revenues falling by half and the company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

The platform’s latest challenge came this month when rival Meta attracted tens of millions of users to Threads, its long-awaited Twitter competitor. Twitter has threatened to sue Meta, alleging that it stole the company’s trade secrets when creating its messaging app.

Musk has a history of changing his mind after making public pronouncements. If he follows through with a rebranding, it would mark just the latest attempt to turn round the company.

In May, he appointed Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s former head of advertising, as Twitter’s chief in an effort to woo back dozens of big advertisers that had deserted the platform over Musk’s unorthodox leadership style and looser content moderation.

Musk has said advertisers are returning to Twitter but he has continued to upset its users. He sparked a backlash this month after announcing that the social media platform was putting temporary limits on the number of posts users are able to view.

Earlier this month, Musk said that the company had not yet reached positive cash flow, despite suggesting in March that the company might do so by the second quarter. “We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load,” he wrote on July 14.

Twitter’s light-blue bird logo is the company’s “most recognizable asset”, says its website, familiar to people around the world. It was named “Larry T Bird” by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone after Larry Bird, the former basketball player.