Twitter users may have noticed that the usual bird logo for their app has recently changed to a black and white “X”. On July 22, 2023, Elon Musk, the current owner of Twitter, posted saying, “If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll… go live worldwide tomorrow.”

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of the X company tweeted, “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”

The change in the company names has been met with comments and questions from users.

In a response to a Twitter (now X user), Sawyer Merritt, Musk said that tweets are now called “x’s”.

Musk’s interest in the letter “X” could be seen in 1997 when he created X.com. X.com is now called PayPal. He even founded an artificial intelligence company called X.ai. Musk is most known for being the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Twitter Incorporated was legally changed to X Corporation by Musk in April 2023.

Before buying Twitter, Elon Musk tweeted, “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app.”

The design of the “X” is meant to “embody the imperfections in us all that make us unique,” said Musk. He tweeted (or “X’ed”), “Twitter was acquired by X Corp both to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for X, the everything app. This is not simply a company renaming itself, but doing the same thing.”

Musk further explained why the bird logo is being replaced, “The Twitter name made sense when it was just 140 character messages going back and forth – like birds tweeting – but now you can post almost anything, including several hours of video.”  

The X company “will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world. The Twitter name does not make sense in that context, so we must bid adieu to the bird.”

An X user, Jon Erlichman, posted a list of company name changes of popular stores, services, and apps in which Elon Musk responded to. The first names included: Cadabra to Amazon, Sound of Music to Best Buy, Auction Web to eBay, Meta to Facebook, and now—Twitter to X.