Elon Musk considers charging all users fee to use X
Elon Musk intends to turn X into an entirely subscription-based platform. In a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk said that the company was "moving to a small monthly payment" for the use of its services. He believes this might be the best solution to eliminate the problem of bots on the platform. Musk didn't reveal how much the new subscription would cost, but rather described it as a small amount of money.
"Only way to combat vast armies of bots"
According to Musk, bots are a significant issue on X, and charging users a small monthly fee would help reduce their prevalence. The idea of charging every user on X isn't new. In an internal conversation last year, Musk considered putting X/Twitter entirely behind a paywall. X has over 550 million monthly active users, who create 100-200 million daily posts. Even charging a "small monthly payment" to each user would assist the platform in generating enormous profits.
Bloomberg journalist Dave Lee shared Musk's new plan on X
Musk recently hired a new CEO for X
Musk has made sweeping changes to Twitter since acquiring the company for $44 billion. He installed himself as CEO and oversaw mass layoffs that reduced the workforce by an estimated 80%. He also renamed the company X and implemented several changes, including the X Blue subscription program. Musk recently hired Linda Yaccarino, a former NBC Universal sales executive, as CEO. However, he still maintains control of the company and continues to lead the product and technology teams.
X is experiencing a drop in ad revenue
Musk, who also serves as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, previously stated that X ad sales dropped by 50%, leading to advertising revenue losses and heavy debt load. The new subscription-based system may be used to recover from negative cashflows. Currently, X derives some earnings from the X Blue program, which starts at $8 (Rs. 900) per month. Independent research indicates the premium plan hasn't drawn a majority of X users.
