Twitter was never the largest social network, but it remained one of the most influential as a home to celebrities, journalists, and influencers of all sorts and the go-to network for breaking news. Since Elon Musk purchased it, Twitter’s employee count has dropped by more than half, advertisers have tightened budgets, and it’s charging money for access to verified checkmarks and Tweetdeck. Oh, and now it’s called X instead of Twitter.
X says the new version of the app, rolling out starting today, is “faster, smoother, and more reliable,” with better scrolling, loading, and notifications. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, called it “one of the largest engineering projects in the company’s history,” but warned users that “There are still some rough edges.”
Along with his usual morning tweets in support of right-wing politics, against certain immigrants to the US, and boosting data centers, the sometimes-trillionaire writes, “Once we have completed our review for security vulnerabilities, we will make the entire codebase of 𝕏 open source, with no exceptions.” (He didn’t mention how Grok Build had apparently made exposing your code a little too easy.)
He also tweeted separately about its mysteriously busted algorithm, saying that it “…barraging you with similar content due to a few likes” is another problem.
Judge Sparkle Sooknanan approved the $1.5 million pocket-change settlement with the Fed over his violation of disclosure rules in connection with the purchase of Twitter. She said she had limited authority:
“Whether the Executive Branch (through the SEC) has done enough to hold Mr. Musk to account for his alleged violation is, like many other issues, for our citizenry to decide at the ballot box.”
According to Elon Musk, the platform will be releasing a new feature for Community Notes that sends you a DM if “a post you interacted with is corrected.” I can see the potential utility, though you’re putting trust in the Community Note actually being correct. It’s also unclear when this may launch.
Walk softly and carry a Fender Telecaster.
As reported by CNBC, the New York Times, and others, trading commenced at a price 11 percent above the $135 IPO price, but lower than the $175 shown in some earlier indications. It’s already spiked as high as $167, before falling back to $155. As long as the share price remains above $138, that is enough to make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
It also gives SpaceX a market cap of over $2 trillion, making it currently the 6th most valuable public company in the US.
iOS users now have the option to “React with Video” under the reposting symbol on the X app, allowing you to respond to clips and static images by recording yourself. You can choose between green screen, split screen, or picture-in-picture recording styles.
The biggest public offering ever is financial nihilism’s final form.
Unverified users only need to worry if they’re making more than 50 original posts and 200 replies per day, compared to the previous limit of 2,400 daily posts. This move is presumably trying to tackle bot accounts, since 50 posts is far more than most people will use.
We also discover that Nadella has no idea if Altman and Musk talked about Musk’s mean Microsoft/OpenAI tweets. As a side note, we are referring exclusively to “Twitter” and “tweets” even for posts after the X rebrand.
Following a missed April court date, French prosecutors have formally opened a criminal investigation into Elon Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino over the platform’s role in spreading sexualized AI deepfakes and illegal content, as reported by CNBC.
While Elon Musk has settled his Twitter case with the SEC, nonprofit watchdog group Media Matters says the FTC has ended a “retaliatory” investigation about whether it worked with advertisers to boycott Elon Musk’s website:
…the FTC ultimately submitted to a legally binding settlement agreement with Media Matters, withdrawing its blatantly retaliatory demands and committing to forgo ever reissuing or issuing a substantially similar Civil Investigative Demand to Media Matters.
The FTC also stated — in writing — that Media Matters is not the target of any investigation and that any similar future litigation would occur in D.C.
The platform claims the app has “no tracking” and is “fully end-to-end encrypted.” Benji Taylor, who leads design at X, says the launch is “just the beginning of what we’re building for messaging.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren is worried about X Money, Elon Musk’s upcoming payment platform, and the risks it poses to consumers and the financial system. She’s probably right to worry, but the solution might have been in front of us the whole time:
GHollister:
Have you tried not using X Money? That is my plan, seems to be working ok.
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Digital privacy non-profit the Electronic Frontier Foundation has announced it’s leaving X, citing a sharp decline in views for its posts. With EFF off the platform, some commenters agree with the organization’s thinking.
Krankor:
eff x, I agree
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Viral posts about insider trading don’t have to be true to be valuable.
Elon Musk said it was “war” in 2024, as X filed its antitrust lawsuit against World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) members over their Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative.
Now a judge has dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought again:
…if facts existed that GARM operated at an X competitor’s behest to put X out of business or that GARM advertisers sought to unfairly exclude competing advertisers from doing business, X would have pleaded those facts. The very nature of the alleged conspiracy does not state an antitrust claim, and the Court
therefore has no qualm dismissing with prejudice.
Musk’s lawyers are trying to overturn the recent verdict that found his self-described “stupid tweets” were liable for losses incurred by Twitter investors, pointing to an emoji reaction to a post on LinkedIn from the account of Judge Kathaleen McCormick. In a filing of her own, Reuters reports McCormick said she hadn’t read the post, and that “I either did not click the ‘support’ icon at all, or I did so accidentally.”
“I am hesitant to foist being public on SpaceX, especially given the long term nature of our mission.”
The in-development feature reported by @nima_owji shows a toggle that allows users to disclose synthetically made or manipulated content. The move may be in response to India ordering social platforms to embrace provenance systems like C2PA, a standard that X abandoned after Elon Musk stepped in.
Europe’s privacy watchdog has opened yet another investigation into the millions of sexualized images, some of children, produced and shared on the platform last month. It joins the EU’s DSA effort already underway, whatever France is doing, and a few more in the UK.
