Musk's X CEO steps down
Yaccarino was appointed in mid-2023, less than a year after Musk's takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter, succeeding him as chief executive. At the time, Musk said Yaccarino would focus on business operations while he led product design and technology development.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Yaccarino offered no specific reason for stepping down. She thanked Musk for the opportunity, calling her time at the company 'two incredible years,' but did not outline future plans.
She said that under her leadership, X had prioritized user safety, particularly for minors, and had worked to restore advertiser confidence. She also pointed to the launch of Community Notes, the platform's crowdsourced fact-checking feature, and X Money, its payments and fintech branch. 'The best is yet to come,' Yaccarino claimed, as the company enters a new phase with xAI, its artificial intelligence subsidiary.
After two incredible years, I've decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏. When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I'm immensely grateful to him for entrusting me…
Musk, who also runs Tesla and SpaceX, thanked Yaccarino in a brief reply post. A replacement has yet to be named.
While no official reason has been given, Yaccarino's departure is widely seen as the result of internal and external pressures, including reported tensions with Musk, mounting content moderation controversies, and struggles to regain advertiser trust. Her time as CEO coincided with one of the most volatile periods in the platform's history.
Despite being appointed CEO, Yaccarino's authority was often constrained, with Musk maintaining control over key decisions. According to the Financial Times, her limited autonomy may have caused friction.
Advertising revenue remained under pressure amid concerns over hate speech, misinformation, and ads appearing next to extremist content, several media outlets noted. This was cited as triggering an advertiser exodus and a lawsuit X filed against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which later disbanded.
Brand safety issues escalated with the rollout of Grok, an AI tool developed by xAI. The chatbot sparked backlash for promoting racist and antisemitic content, prompting xAI to remove offensive posts and implement stronger moderation tools.
Before joining X, Yaccarino spent over a decade leading global advertising at NBCUniversal. She served on US President Donald Trump's Sports Council during his first term and later chaired the Ad Council, where she collaborated with the administration of Joe Biden on a Covid-19 vaccine campaign featuring Pope Francis.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
3 days ago
- Russia Today
US gov't ditches Musk's AI over ‘anti-Semitism'
The US government has dropped Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok from a planned federal technology program following controversy over anti-Semitic content and conspiracy theories produced by the bot, Wired reported on Thursday. Grok, developed by Musk's AI startup xAI, is built into his social media platform X. It offers fact checks, quick context on trending topics, and replies to user arguments. Musk has promoted xAI as a rival to OpenAI and Google's DeepMind, but the chatbot has faced criticism over offensive and inflammatory outputs. According to the report, xAI was in advanced talks with the General Services Administration (GSA), the agency in charge of US government tech procurement, to give federal workers access to its AI tools. Grok had already been added to the GSA's long-term procurement list, enabling agencies to buy it. Earlier this month, the GSA announced partnerships with other AI providers – Anthropic, Google's Gemini, and Box's AI-powered content platform – while reportedly also telling staff to remove xAI's Grok from the offering. Two GSA employees told Wired they believe the chatbot was dropped over its anti-Semitic tirade last month, when it praised Adolf Hitler and called itself 'MechaHitler.' The posts were deleted, and xAI apologized for the 'horrific behavior,' pledging to block hate speech before Grok goes live. The bot also pushed the 'white genocide' conspiracy theory and echoed Holocaust denial rhetoric, which xAI blamed on unauthorized prompt changes. This week, it was briefly suspended from X after stating that Israel and the US were committing genocide in Gaza – allegations both countries reject. Musk has continued to praise the chatbot, recently writing: 'East, West, @Grok is the best.' The move to drop Grok comes as part of a broader push by the administration of US President Donald Trump to modernize the federal government under an action plan unveiled last month that provides for less regulation and wider adoption of AI. However, the rapid growth of AI has triggered concern about its potential to spread misinformation, reinforce bias, and operate without accountability. Experts say that unless strong safeguards are in place, poorly moderated AI tools could also expose children to harmful or inappropriate content.
Russia Today
4 days ago
- Russia Today
Indian farmers call for boycott of US products
Farmers groups in India have called for a boycott of certain US products over Washington's latest tariffs and demands for New Delhi to open up its agricultural market to American companies. Trade agreement negotiations between India and the US collapsed earlier this month, and Washington initially imposed 25% tariffs on Indian imports, before adding another 25% for the South Asian country's continued purchases of Russian oil. The second set of tariffs will be implemented from August 27. New Delhi has called the US tariffs 'unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,' and has vowed to protect its national interests. 'No farmer should buy Coca-Cola. It's time to start having lemonade and buffalo milk at home,' a protesting farmer told RT at a tractor rally in Greater Noida, near Delhi. Indian Farmers React to #TrumpTariffs - "Ditch Coca-Cola"From the US-India FTA hinging on Modi's protection of the agricultural industry, to Washington's 50% tariffs hurting exports... RT tested the ground at a tractor rally in Greater Noida:"The US has never supported India,… 'Indian agricultural produce going to the US will fall under the 50% tariff regime. Due to this hike farmers will only get half the profit, and the US will get 50% more from import tax,' another farmer said. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke up for the country's farmers. 'For us, our farmers' welfare is supreme,' he said last week. 'India will never compromise on the wellbeing of its farmers, dairy sector and fishermen. And I know personally I will have to pay a heavy price for it.' For over five months, Washington and New Delhi discussed a trade deal, but differences arose when the US reportedly asked for agricultural and dairy products to be exempted from tariffs. Agriculture and dairy are 'very big red lines' when it comes to trade talks with the US, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in June. Agriculture and its associated sectors is the largest source of livelihood in India. 70% of the country's rural households depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82% of farmers being small and marginal, according to a report by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. A US delegation is expected in India later this month for a fresh round of negotiations for a trade agreement.
Russia Today
4 days ago
- Russia Today
US waives sanctions for Trump-Putin summit
The US Treasury Department on Wednesday issued a temporary waiver for some sanctions against Russia, allowing transactions related to the upcoming meeting between the presidents of the two countries. The announcement was made by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) shortly ahead of the summit scheduled for Friday, when US President Donald Trump is set to host his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The sanctions waiver covers transactions that are 'normally incidental to and necessary for the attendance at or support of meetings in the state of Alaska,' yet it does not authorize the 'unblocking or release of any property blocked or effectively immobilized.' The pause is set to stay in effect until August 20, OFAC noted. The upcoming meeting is expected to focus on the Ukraine conflict, as well as on a broader range of issues related to the bilateral US-Russia ties. Both Washington and Moscow have been cautious about their expectations, signaling the summit is likely to be the first top-level event in a string of talks rather than yield an immediate breakthrough. The US president earlier described the Alaska summit as a 'feel-out meeting' that will help him determine whether the Ukraine conflict can be settled altogether. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that Moscow views the meeting as a chance to begin mending strained ties with Washington, expressing hopes the 'high-level meeting will give an impulse to the normalization of bilateral relations.'
