Elon Musk made his last-minute appearance at the VivaTech trade fair in France on Friday, and the tech billionaire revealed his plans for Twitter, known for its ties to an "everything app" called "X."
The tech mogul has discussed fixing and getting Twitter's current business in order, as it would be the center of X, offering not only communications but also entertainment and financial services, among others.
According to TechCrunch, Musk hoped that Twitter and X would "hopefully be a positive force for civilization."
Earlier this year, the billionaire created a new company called X.AI dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI). It is said to be part of a broader plan to create the "everything app" or super app under the brand "X."
The Financial Times has previously reported that Musk created the AI firm to compete with the Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
Elon Musk Still Plans to Bring X to Life
In the final moments of the Viva Tech event held in Paris, France, Elon Musk, one of the most influential figures in technology, stepped up to the stage, where he talked about his plans and visions for his various companies.
Here, he discussed Tesla as being close to achieving fully autonomous vehicles and SpaceX's mission to make life better on Earth and make humanity a multi-planetary species, which is Musk's earliest ambition.
X is still a mystery to the public, especially how it will work or be developed in the future. Musk said in April that the acquisition of Twitter would act as "an accelerant" to creating the super app, and the process will start in three to five years.
For him, Twitter will serve as the first step toward X, which is the billionaire's vision for a new social media platform that has yet to be experienced in most of the US.
When a Twitter user asked the Tesla CEO in August last year if he had considered launching his own social media platform, Musk replied, "X.com, which is a web domain he purchased more than five years ago.
The billionaire previously said his vision for X was to make it "something that would be very useful to the world."
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Elon Musk Is Wooing Ad Companies For Twitter
According to TechCrunch, Elon Musk's appearance in Paris was also to "woo" ad giants to help bring revenue for Twitter.
Twitter has reportedly lost millions of dollars since the billionaire acquired the social media platform, with ad sales down almost 60%. Thus, rebuilding relationships with advertisers is on Musk's agenda during his visit to Paris.
The tech mogul said during the event, "With a few exceptions, most advertisers have come back or said they would come back, so I feel pretty optimistic about the future... I'm not aware of any exceptions, actually."
When asked if AI will threaten the ad production industry, Musk said, "not at all."
"It's totally safe... AI is simply going to be a massive disruptive force... AI is way smarter than the smartest human," he added. However, the tech mogul maintained that AI still needed more guardrails for safety and transparency.
Despite being one of the early OpenAI founders and working now on X, Musk said, "I think we should pause" when asked about the ongoing debate on AI development and if AI poses a danger.
"The outcome might be positive with AI but that's not every outcome. Something could go wrong with digital super intelligence. I'm in favor of regulation. The public is a referee," the billionaire noted, as reported by TechCrunch.
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