What Is X (Formerly Twitter)? Elon Musk's Social Platform

X is the social media platform you used to know as Twitter. Elon Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it to X in 2023, dropping the bird logo for a stark black-and-white “X.” At its core it still does what Twitter always did — short public posts, replies, reposts and a real-time feed of what the world is talking about. But under Musk it has been reshaped into something he calls an “everything app,” with a paid verification model, a heavier push toward video and payments, and its own AI assistant, Grok, baked right in.

From Twitter to X: what actually happened

The short version: Musk agreed to buy Twitter in early 2022, tried to back out, and ultimately closed the roughly $44 billion deal in late 2022, taking the company private. In 2023 he renamed it X, retiring one of the most recognizable brand names on the internet.

The motivation was bigger than a logo. Musk has long talked about building an “everything app” — a single place for messaging, social posting, video and money, inspired by all-in-one apps popular in other parts of the world. Rebranding to “X” was step one toward that broader identity, signaling the platform was meant to be more than a microblogging site. X is one of several ventures in his portfolio — see the full map in every company Elon Musk runs.

How X works today

Strip away the changes and the basics are familiar:

Posts — short public messages (still widely called “tweets” by users), which can include text, images, video and links.
Reposts and quotes — sharing someone else’s post, with or without your own comment.
Replies and likes — the usual public conversation and engagement tools.
Following and the feed — a timeline mixing accounts you follow with an algorithmic “For You” stream.
Direct messages — private one-to-one and group chats.

What’s changed sits on top of that foundation: a stronger emphasis on long posts and long-form video, creator monetization, and tighter integration with Musk’s other products.

What Musk changed

A few shifts stand out under Musk’s ownership:

Paid verification. The blue checkmark, once a free identity badge for notable accounts, became part of a paid subscription (X Premium). Subscribers also get features like longer posts, editing and algorithmic boosts.
Content moderation. Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” loosened many moderation rules and reinstated previously banned accounts — a change praised by some users and sharply criticized by others, including advertisers and researchers worried about misinformation and hate speech.
A leaner company. He cut the workforce dramatically after the acquisition.
Push toward an everything app. Expanded video, audio and steps toward payments, all aimed at that broader “X” vision.

These moves made X one of the most-discussed — and most polarizing — products in tech. They also reshaped its business. Many large advertisers — historically the platform’s main source of revenue — pulled back after the changes in moderation and tone, putting pressure on the company’s finances. Musk’s answer has been to lean harder into subscriptions, creator payouts and the AI integration below, trying to reduce the platform’s reliance on ad dollars. Whether that mix can support a company bought for tens of billions is one of the open questions hanging over X.

How X connects to xAI and Grok

This is where X stops being “just” a social network. Musk also founded xAI, his artificial-intelligence company, and its chatbot Grok is built directly into X — subscribers can ask it questions and get answers without leaving the app. Grok is also trained and grounded partly on the real-time stream of public posts on X, which Musk frames as a competitive edge over rivals that lack a live firehose of conversation.

The two are no longer even separate businesses in any loose sense: xAI and X have been folded into a single corporate structure, tying the social platform and the AI lab together. In early 2026, that combined entity was itself absorbed into SpaceX, so X now sits inside Musk’s rocket-and-AI company — part of the empire we map in Musk’s AI empire after Cursor. To go deeper, see what xAI is and what Grok is.

Is X still called Twitter?

Officially, no — the company, the app and the website are all X now. In practice, plenty of people still say “Twitter” and call posts “tweets” out of habit, and the old twitter.com address redirects to X. So if someone mentions either name, they almost certainly mean the same platform.

FAQ

Why did Twitter change its name to X?

Elon Musk rebranded Twitter to X in 2023 to reflect his ambition of turning it into an “everything app” — a single platform for social posts, video, messaging and eventually payments — rather than just a microblogging service. The name nods to his long-running fondness for the letter “X.”

When did Elon Musk buy Twitter?

Musk closed his roughly $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late 2022, taking the company private. He renamed it X the following year, in 2023.

Is X the same as Twitter?

Yes. X is simply Twitter rebranded — same core platform, same kind of posts and feed, new name and owner. Many users still casually call it Twitter and refer to posts as tweets.

What is Grok on X?

Grok is the AI chatbot made by Musk’s company xAI, built directly into X. Subscribers can ask it questions inside the app, and it draws partly on X’s real-time public posts. xAI and X have been combined into one company, which is now part of SpaceX.

Social platforms and their features change frequently. This explainer reflects the current landscape and is reviewed periodically.