What is ‘X Corp’?
By Greg Kahn
Emerging Tech Exchange
Founder & CEO
Published on May 16, 2023
The “Everything App” is coming. In terms of specifics, that’s all we know about how Elon Musk and his new CEO, ex-NBCU advertising head Linda Yaccarino, plans to evolve Twitter into X Corp.
We don’t know when the functional transformation will occur. But in essence, the remaking of Twitter has been happening behind the scenes since Musk acquired the social media platform in Oct. 2022.
On April 18 let business users know that Twitter, Inc. was no more — it’s now officially X Corp. The “Everything App” fits Musk’s outsize ambitions. Aside from the name change, Musk also connected Twitter to a stock and crypto trading firm. And shortly after adding his name to an open letter of other business and tech leaders calling for a pause on generative artificial intelligence development projects, he quickly incorporated an AI company called X.AI.
It all seems to be part of his “super app” plans.
The letter “X” holds a special resonance for Musk. It was the name of Tesla’s first model. It is his youngest son’s first name.
As with anything Musk does, it all seems too massive, too messy, too unnecessary, too impossible. And of course, that’s why Musk is charging ahead with it.
The fact is, China’s WeChat is a super app. It is the Chinese consumers’ ID, their media source, their access to their community, their wallet.
WeChat doesn’t have a U.S. parallel. And it’s a very different business from Twitter. Is there a desire to simply and aggregate everything among U.S. consumers?
Maybe not today, but tomorrow, it seems like a genuine opportunity. Our online and offline lives are becoming increasingly blurred. So having an “all-in-one” app has obvious appeal.
Question: how many apps do you have on your phone that lie dormant and unused? The case for a super app becomes stronger with just that consideration.
Elon has a vision and he’s just going for it. The question is: how will Linda shape the execution of that vision? This clearly isn’t Twitter2.0. Her experience with media, brands, and advertising makes her a formidable force in bringing everything X to life.
Greg Kahn
Emerging Tech Exchange
Founder & CEO
