Elon Musk’s decision to rebrand the Twitter logo to ‘X’ falls in line with the billionaire’s super app roadmap as he looks to implement payment features.
Whilst the change of logo to X caused controversy, the rebrand is part of Musk’s decision to rename the holding company of Twitter to X Corp and has already begun transforming the platform into the “everything app”.
This was further revealed by Twitter Chief Executive Lina Yaccarino in a meeting with the Mobile Marketing Association on Sunday, who shared that X will incorporate payment features, alongside more audio and video developments, to attract advertisers.
As well as payments and cryptocurrency featuring in Twitter’s long-term plans, Yaccarino also revealed that the company is set to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities through Musk’s company xAI.
Twitter is aiming to develop and train xAI models to harness its data and improve the overall efficiency in ‘all ways that can be imagined’.
Yaccarino stated: “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. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”
Since purchasing Twitter in October last year for $44bn, Musk has overseen significant changes, none more so than swiftly cutting its entire workforce by 80% and introducing a subscription-based service titled ‘Twitter Blue’.
With his roots in payments dating back to founding PayPal in 1999, Musk has set ambitions for Twitter to be in the mould of the modern day super app, encompassing various services and features all under one roof.
The billionaire filed paperwork to the US Treasury in November last year for Twitter to become a financial service that would integrate ‘high-yield’ money market accounts and peer-to-peer payments, as well as debit card transaction capabilities.
X Corp has also been working alongside eToro to develop in-trading functions titled ‘cashtags’ which users can use to help make in-app crypto and stock trades.
This is all in an effort to help the social media platform become profitable as Musk revealed when he bought the company that it was ‘teetering’ on the edge of bankruptcy.
