Elon Musk’s X to Launch YouTube Clone for Amazon and Samsung Smart TVs: Fortune

Elon Musk’s X plans to launch a television app for Amazon and Samsung smart televisions next week, Fortune reported, citing an unidentified person working at the social media company.

Musk aims to encourage users to watch long videos on a bigger screen and he is set on competing with YouTube, the person said. The new app looks “identical” to YouTube’s television app, the person added.

Live-streaming platform Twitch, the encrypted messaging app Signal, and the social media forum Reddit are among some of the other services that Musk aims to compete with, according to Fortune.

X Hopes to Lure Creators, Take On YouTube With New Ad Targeting

Elon Musk’s X is adding new advertiser targeting features to better entice video creators and compete against YouTube.

X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, will let advertisers run ads before videos from creators of their choosing starting later this month, the company said Monday in a statement. Advertisers can run ads in the main timeline and on a creator’s profile.

The new ads will include a revenue split, offering X’s 80,000 creators another way to make money from their videos. A spokesperson for X declined to disclose the percentage of ad revenue it will share with creators. The company previously said it has paid out more than $20 million. Google’s YouTube gives creators 55% of ad revenue related to their videos.

Musk has tried to push the company toward more premium video content in recent months by adding partners, including former CNN host Don Lemon and World Wrestling Entertainment, to produce shows on the service. He’s spoken several times about his desire for X to compete with YouTube and has reached out to some creators directly. Last month, he praised YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, known to his followers as MrBeast, for posting his first video on X.

Musk’s efforts are part of an attempt to lure back marketers since his chaotic takeover of the platform led advertising revenue to decline more than 50%. Last year, ad sales were estimated to be roughly $2.5 billion, falling short of the company’s $3 billion target, Bloomberg reported.