Is X, the Wechat for the rest of us?
After a sudden rebrand, Twitter is now called X. This new name was previously discussed by Elon Musk, who strongly associates the “X” brand with Twitter’s future as an “everything” app. But what is an “everything” app, and how will X become one?
There was a bit of a hubbub in February as it emerged that OpenAI had seemingly purchased AI.com in order to redirect it to the ChatGPT web interface. But now erstwhile backer, Twitter haver and X lover Elon Musk appears to have taken the valuable domain off their hands, or else someone has done it for him: AI.com now redirects to X.ai, the billionaire’s embryonic machine learning research outfit.
Of course domains are bought and sold every day. But two-letter.com domains are rare and highly expensive, especially those that form words or familiar abbreviations. When AI.com started redirecting to OpenAI’s site, Mashable pointed out that the domain could hardly have sold for less than IT.com’s $3.8 million the previous year, and likely attained a far higher price given the hype around artificial intelligence in general.
No doubt OpenAI hoped that the purchase of AI.com would turn confused URL bar typers into lifetime users. Or perhaps it intended to eventually move its consumer-facing operations (like ChatGPT’s web client) over to the shorter domain. It seems we’ll never know, because now the domain goes to X.ai.
Elon Musk said TED curator Chris Anderson’s suggestion to have a debate with Mark Zuckerberg, instead of a cage fight, “sounds like a good idea too.”
Plus: Worldcoin just officially launched. Why is it already being investigated?
AI language models have recently become the latest frontier in the US culture wars. Right-wing commentators have accused ChatGPT of having a “woke bias,” and conservative groups have started developing their own versions of AI chatbots. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has said he is working on “TruthGPT,” a “maximum truth-seeking” language model that would stand in contrast to the “politically correct” chatbots created by OpenAI and Google.
An unbiased, purely fact-based AI chatbot is a cute idea, but it’s technically impossible. (Musk has yet to share any details of what his TruthGPT would entail, probably because he is too… More.
Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce giant is set to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink service with its 3,200-internet satellite mega-constellation.
Amazon has announced it will now deploy its two Project Kuiper prototype satellites aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket this fall.
Zach Kirkhorn’s replacement, Delhi-trained accountant Vaibhav Taneja, has kept a low profile since joining Tesla in 2016—a very low profile.
The URL previously belonged to OpenAI, but, somehow, it’s now a landing page for Musk’s AI venture.
Billionaire Elon Musk acquired social media platform Twitter, which he has since rebranded to X, for $44 billion in 2022.
With the acquisition, Musk now controls the platform and has the power to make changes and, in some cases, snatch away usernames that people have been using for decades.
What Happened: When Twitter announced its rebrand to X, some users pointed out the interesting fact that one person owned the @X handle on the platform, leading to theories of a buyout by Musk to get the one-letter username.
The CEO has been outspoken about his commitment to free speech on X, formerly Twitter, and allowed previously blocked accounts back on the platform.
