Twitter changes logo from blue bird to X, embraces the new Elon Musk era

Twitter has a new logo as the iconic Larry the Bird has now been replaced by X, a term which Elon Musk has an extensive history of association with.

Twitter’s Larry Bird has been replaced by the new X logo. (Twitter)

It is official, Larry the Bird is dead! After numerous changes to Twitter such as Twitter Blue subscriptions and limiting DMs since Elon Musk's takeover, this latest move has resulted in the rebranding of the microblogging platform. In effect, the Twitter of old is virtually dead and the new one has just arrived in a new avatar. Interestingly, instead of hiring graphic designers to create the new logo, the Twitter chief, on Sunday, had asked his followers to post mockups of the X logo, tweeting, If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we'll make go live worldwide tomorrow.

A few days ago, Musk also revealed that the X.com domain would be the new home of Twitter and the website now redirects users to the microblogging platform. In light of the rebranding campaign, Musk also recently changed his Twitter profile picture to an X, while also pinning the tweet of a short video of the same.

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also showed his support for this major change, tweeting, Keep calm and just x through it.

Announcing the new logo on Twitter, CEO Linda Yaccarino wrote, X is here Let's do this.

Why X?

Elon Musk has long been infatuated with X, incorporating it back in 1999 with X.com, his platform which was meant to be a one-stop shop for all banking needs. While the platform was later purchased by PayPal in 2001, the domain was returned to Musk a few years later. He then later founded SpaceX, a private space technology company, and even launched a Tesla Model X.

In April 2023, when Musk merged Twitter into X Corp, he also registered X.AI Corp as an AI startup, hinting at what is to come. The Twitter chief then established xAI, his own AI company to "understand the universe. Thus, Twitter's new rebranding hints at fulfilling Elon Musk's vision of a one-stop shop for the needs of a social media user.

Sharing the details about the rebranding, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino had tweeted this on Sunday, 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.

Therefore, it seems like going forward, the microblogging platform will not only allow users to interact with each other but also offer services related to jobs, audio, video, messaging, and even banking or payments, similar to China's WeChat.