Latest news with #XApp
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
X CEO Linda Yaccarino Resigns After 2 Years Leading Elon Musk's Platform
X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Wednesday announced she is stepping down after leading the platform owned by Elon Musk for a little more than two years. 'I'm immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App,' Yaccarino posted on X. 'I'm incredibly proud of the X team – the historic business turn around we have accomplished together has been nothing short of remarkable.' More from TheWrap X CEO Linda Yaccarino Resigns After 2 Years Leading Elon Musk's Platform Elon Musk Blames X's Antisemitic AI Meltdown on Grok Being 'Too Eager to Please' Apple COO Jeff Williams to Exit After 27 Years Latest Trump-Musk Battle Spurs $70 Billion Stock Decline for Tesla 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… — Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) July 9, 2025 Her exit comes a day after Grok, X's artificial intelligence model, went haywire and started posting antisemitic and pro-Hitler responses. A number of X users responded to her post on Wednesday, asking if the Grok incident played a role in her leaving the company. Yaccarino was named the chief executive of X in June 2023, less than a year after Musk bought the platform formerly known as Twitter. She joined X after leaving NBCUniversal, where she was the chairman of global advertising and partnerships, and her move to Musk's platform shocked many in the industry. Yaccarino, soon after joining the company, said she was committed to what Musk called his 'Freedom of speech, not freedom of reach' approach, where the platform was less focused on censoring and kicking off users than under its previous leadership. 'X is enabling an information independence that's uncomfortable for some people,' Yaccarino said in 2023. 'We're a platform that allows people to make their own decisions.' She said that perspective put X at the 'unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street' and would make it more appealing to advertisers. After a rocky few years, that bet appeared to pay off, with advertisers like Disney and Apple returning to the platform following controversial comments from Musk. Trimming costs and headcount also helped X bounce back to a $44 billion valuation, the same price Musk paid for it, before it was acquired by Musk's AI platform in March. Critics, meanwhile, have said X has become more toxic than ever under its more relaxed approach to censorship. Many users ditched X after the 2024 election and headed to Bluesky, which some left-leaning users dubbed 'Blue Heaven,' in protest of Musk and his support for President Trump. 'Thank you for your contributions,' Musk posted in response to Yaccarino, about 40 minutes after she announced her exit. His curt five word reply stood in contrast to the 213 word farewell Yaccarino sent out. Reps for X did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment on who will run the company following Yaccarino's exit. The post X CEO Linda Yaccarino Resigns After 2 Years Leading Elon Musk's Platform appeared first on TheWrap.
WIRED
09-07-2025
- Business
- WIRED
Linda Yaccarino Tried to Tame X. Now She's Out as CEO
Jul 9, 2025 12:09 PM Yaccarino announced Wednesday she's stepping down, and it's not clear if the platform's owner, Elon Musk, plans to announce a successor. Photograph:Linda Yaccarino, who has served as CEO of X since Elon Musk appointed her to the role in June 2023, announced Wednesday that she is stepping down. Her departure comes less than four months after Musk announced that X would be absorbed into xAI, the billionaire's existing artificial intelligence startup. In a post on X, Yaccarino thanked Musk for 'entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App.' Under her leadership, Yaccarino said that X did 'critical early work' to make the platform safe for users, and to 'restore advertiser confidence.' She pointed to new features like Community Notes, a system for crowdsourcing fact checks of X posts. 'Now, the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai,' Yaccarino wrote. Yaccarino did not say why she was leaving X or whether she had accepted a role at another company. Her announcement comes hours after Grok—a chatbot developed by xAI that has been integrated directly into X—began making antisemitic remarks in replies to user queries. Grok seemingly began generating the offensive content after Musk claimed on July 4 that the chatbot had been 'significantly' improved and that users would 'notice a difference' when asking it questions. X did not immediately respond to a query from WIRED about whether it planned to appoint a new CEO for the social media platform. Musk currently serves as the chief executive of xAI, now the parent organization of X. 'Thank you for your contributions,' Musk wrote in a reply to Yaccarino's departure announcement. Yaccarino joined X in 2023, less than a year after Musk acquired what was then known as Twitter and assumed the role of CEO. In December of 2022, Musk polled his followers about whether he should step down as Twitter's chief executive. Days after the poll ended and the majority of users answered yes, Musk said that he would resign once he found a replacement. The following spring, Musk announced that Yaccarino, then an advertising executive at NBCUniversal, would be taking over as X's CEO in about six weeks. But even after Musk passed the reins, he remained a central public figure and decision maker at X, as well as the company's chairman and chief technology officer. Prior to joining X, Yaccarino was the head of advertising and chairman of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal. She was also appointed to a presidential sports, fitness, and nutrition council in 2018 during the first Trump administration.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Linda Yaccarino announces her departure from Musk's X
Linda Yaccarino, the boss of Elon Musk's social media site X, has announced she is stepping Yaccarino has been in the role since June, a post on the social media platform, she said was "immensely grateful" to Musk for "entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App".Musk has not yet commented on Ms Yaccarino's departure. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
X Hires New Head of Product to Re-Ignite Growth
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. This could be a significant hiring for X, and the future development of the app. Today, app designer Nikita Bier has announced that he is joining X as head of product, which will see Bier bring his expertise to the app, and could spark all-new growth opportunities. Bier is the creator of two previously viral apps, in 'tbh,' which Meta acquired in 2017, and 'Gas,' which was acquired by Discord in 2023. Both tbh and Gas are considered case studies in viral marketing, with both gaining millions of users in short spans of time, before being acquired by larger companies. Bier has also advised on several other app projects, and his expertise in user dynamics could be of significant benefit for X, as it looks to regain growth momentum. As per Bier's announcement: 'X is the most important social network in the world. It's where internet culture originates and where the world's most influential people convene. Finding my community and building an audience on X has impacted my life more than any single thing: it's unlocked friendships, professional opportunities and it's even where I met my girlfriend. While I already spend every waking hour on this app, I'll now be spending that time helping others unlock that same value.' Bier says that he plans on 'leveraging the power of Grok to create hyper-relevant timelines,' in order to help X users better understand everything that's happening. It could be a big hire, and again, with X losing users, and relevance, since the name change from Twitter, while also now facing a significant market challenge from Meta's rival Threads, X needs an injection of innovation to spark more interest in the app. So how will Bier be able to help X transform itself, and become a more culturally relevant platform once again? Well, more AI-aligned timelines could be one aspect, and ensuring that users are getting the most relevant posts displayed to them every time they log in. That's been key to TikTok's success, with its almighty algorithm able to align itself to your interests within a few swipes. Maybe, X could look to do the same, to ensure that the 'For You' main feed is a more engaging mix of valuable content for each user. Or maybe, Bier will look to integrate elements of his past apps, with both tbh and Gas using anonymous compliments to spark engagement between users. That seems less likely to resonate on X, but maybe there are aspects to this that will apply, though Bier will really be bringing his broader product understanding to the app, in alignment with Elon Musk's vision. Which is probably the bigger element to consider. Elon has a very specific set of ideas in mind as to how he wants the app to be, and it'll be interesting to see if and how Bier can align with this, while also implementing his own input. And with X continuing to push into payments, and facilitating more use cases in the app, there could be some conflicts with that dynamic, and what exactly Bier can do within the framework of what Musk wants X to be. But it does seem like a potentially valuable partnership, which could end up delivering for X.
TechCrunch
20-06-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
X app code points to a physical card coming to X Money
X's plans for a payments service may extend beyond the digital realm, new data suggests. According to findings from mobile app intelligence firm App Sensa, the X app has been updated over the past few weeks with several references related to a physical debit card, which can be customized with your X username. Dozens of new strings of code in the X app reference various actions you can take with the new debit card, including checking its shipping status, activating your card after it arrives, reporting your card lost or stolen, locking the card, setting a PIN, and more. Multiple strings also include the terms 'physical_card_option' as well as just 'physical,' the data indicates. Image Credits:App Sensa The news follows X CEO Linda Yaccarino's January announcement that Visa would be the company's first partner for the X Money service, which will allow users to instantly fund their X Wallet accounts via Visa Direct. She explained that the new service would enable peer-to-peer (P2P) payments by connecting with users' debit cards and would offer the option to instantly transfer funds to your bank account. Yaccarino also noted that this would be the 'first of many' big announcements about X Money arriving this year. This suggests that X is on a path that will see it more broadly competing with other digital banks and payment services in the near future. Image Credits:App Sensa To support its venture into payments, X has been registering for money transmitter licenses across the U.S. for over a year. As of December 2023, the company was licensed for payment processing in a dozen states. It has since increased its registrations to include 40 states, plus Washington, D.C. There are other references in the X app's code that tell us more about how this new payment card may work. For instance, some strings refer to 'cashback' and others to 'deferred debit.' It also appears you may be able to cancel your virtual card independently of the physical card and vice versa. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW Plus, the code suggests X could be pursuing relationships with other partners, as both MasterCard and Amex are listed as supported payment card brands. Image Credits:App Sensa X owner Elon Musk has long envisioned the app formerly known as Twitter as more than a social network. In November 2022, he shared his plans to turn X into an 'everything app' that would include things like payments and banking, as well as better support for videos and creator content. Last year, X was spotted working on the addition of a Payments button that would be added to the site's main navigation bar. X has not shared when specifically it plans to announce X Money besides sometime 'later this year,' per Yaccarino's earlier post. X did not respond to a request for comment.
