The platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is expected to receive a shake-up once again, as the company’s owner, Elon Musk, discussed having a “small monthly payment” for users on the platform.
The comments from Musk came while he was speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a livestreamed conversation on Monday.
Musk said that the move to a monthly payment model was due to the “vast armies of bots” on the platform, an issue he has had with X since before he made his purchase.
While he discussed his plan, he did not mention how much it would cost for users to be on the social network or if other features would come with the subscription.
During the discussion, Musk also talked about the state of his platform, claiming that there were now 550 million “monthly users,” generating 100 million to 200 million posts per day.
Before Musk took over Twitter, in May 2022, the platform reported having an “average monetizable daily active usage” of 229 million.
Musk made no comparison to these metrics, nor did he specify the amount of authentic monthly users versus bots.
The main topic of discussion between Musk and Netanyahu was the theoretical risks of artificial intelligence technology and how it should be regulated.
However, the livestream hit on several other topics, as Musk spent time disputing claims that X is full of hate speech and antisemitism.
Musk has also addressed the claims in recent weeks, threatening to sue the Anti-Defamation League, claiming that the Jewish-led organization was trying to “kill” his platform.
Altogether, the billionaire has said the ADL is responsible for a nearly 60% drop in revenue at X. He has since said there is “no choice” but to file a defamation lawsuit against the group.
However, no suit has been filed as of yet.