Elon Musk discussed his plans for Twitter, now known as X, during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. Musk said the social network is "shifting to paying a small monthly fee to use System X" in an effort to combat the "massive bot army."
Musk did not say how much the new plan would cost users of the social network, or what other features would or would not be included in the lowest paid plan.
During the live broadcast, Musk also revealed some new metrics for X, saying it currently has 550 million "monthly users" who publish 100 million to 200 million posts per day.
Musk did not disclose how many of the company's monthly users are real users and how many are bots. He also didn't make an apples-to-apples comparison with the metrics Twitter had previously used. In May 2022, before Musk's acquisition, Twitter reported that its "monetizable average daily active users" were 229 million.
The discussion with Netanyahu was intended to focus on the theoretical risks of artificial intelligence technology and how it should be potentially regulated. However, Musk also used it to refute the perception that his social network tolerates hate speech and anti-Semitism.
The meeting follows widespread criticism from civil rights groups of Musk amplifying bigotry on his social network, including tolerating anti-Semitic accounts, content and related conspiracy theories.
In recent weeks, Musk has threatened to sue the Jewish-led Anti-Defamation League, claiming they were trying to "kill" his social network. Musk blamed the Anti-Defamation League, rather than his own business decisions, for Company Musk and Company X have not filed any known lawsuits against ADL and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Before meeting Netanyahu, Musk also accused George Soros' foundation of wanting to "destroy" Western civilization. The Hungarian-American Jewish philanthropist is the founder of the Open Society Foundation, which provides grants to various civic groups, and is the subject of a number of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
On his social media platforms, Musk has repeatedly denigrated transgender people, federal regulators, politicians, journalists, whistleblowers, critics of his company, and short sellers. Despite this history, Musk told Netanyahu on Monday: "I'm against attacking any group. No matter who it is." He said of humanity's goal of becoming a "space-faring civilization": "We can't achieve that goal if there's a lot of infighting, hatred and negativity." "
After Musk acquired Twitter in late October for about $44 billion, he implemented massive layoffs and an overhaul of the platform. He continues to run the company as its largest shareholder, chief technology officer and executive chairman, and is also CEO of automaker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX.
Among other changes, he "amnested" a number of previously suspended X accounts - a move that was strongly criticized by cybersecurity and hate speech experts. Under his stewardship, the platform reinstated the account of former President Donald Trump, who had been banned from Twitter for encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. Musk's Twitter also restored the personal accounts of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and neo-Nazi website founder Andrew Anglin.
Musk also removed Twitter's "blue check" verification system, which helps users identify real accounts belonging to public figures such as celebrities, elected officials, scientists, authors, business and education leaders, and professional journalists.
Under the social network's current system, paying users can display a blue user badge next to their name. Posts from paid users will appear first in other users’ feeds. And for those who don’t pay, their posts will be downgraded to a lower amplification level, or they may experience lower engagement on the platform. On Monday, Musk reiterated his view that turning users into paying subscribers would make deploying bots on the platform cumbersome and unaffordable.
Currently, X is working to obtain licenses as a money transfer company nationwide, and according to public records, it is already licensed in eight states.