Elon Musk says X is 'moving to having a small monthly payment for use'
Elon Musk has said X - formerly known as Twitter - is moving to a monthly payment format for use of the platform.
In this week's instalment of 'how Elon Musk is changing Twitter' - sorry, 'X' - the SpaceX CEO has confirmed a monthly payment will be introduced as he continues to try and tackle bots on the site.
Musk announced the news in a livestreamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday (18 September), after already having made people pay for blue ticks, changed the name of the platform and limiting the number of posts free users can see each day.
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The billionaire told Netanyahu that X now has 550 million 'monthly users', all of who help to generate 100 million to 200 million posts per day on the platform.
Musk did not state how many of these users are authentic, as opposed to bots, but he did admit there were 'vast armies' of the fake accounts on the platform.
The admission formed part of the conversation which was intended to focus on theoretical risks of artificial intelligence technology, and how AI should potentially be regulated.
In an effort to combat the bots, Musk told Netanyahu that the social network is 'moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system'.
X users can currently pay a monthly fee of £9.60 or $8 to subscribe to the platform's premium Blue service, but Musk said the new system will introduce a 'lower tier pricing'.
“It’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,” he said.
“Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny – call it a tenth of a penny – but even if it has to pay a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high."
It's unclear exactly how much the new lower 'monthly payment' will be, or whether features will be included or excluded for users paying at different tiers.
Blue subscribers currently have their posts prioritised in other people's feeds, while users who don't pay have less amplification on the platform and may see lower engagement as a result. Subscribers can also have a verified tick next to their name.
Musk didn't say exactly when the charges will be brought in, but explained that a subscription fee would make it more difficult for bots to create accounts as they would need new credit cards each time.
Topics: Elon Musk, Technology, Twitter, Money
Emily Brown