Elon Musk, the CEO of X (formerly known as Twitter), has discussed the possibility of introducing a monthly subscription fee for users of the platform. Musk revealed this during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
The billionaire entrepreneur cited the need for such a change to address the issue of bots plaguing the platform. Musk emphasized that implementing a small monthly fee is the most viable strategy to combat the proliferation of these automated accounts, as the operational cost of bots is extremely low.
He also mentioned plans to introduce lower-tier pricing options to keep the subscription affordable for users. However, he did not specify a timeline for when this subscription plan would be put into effect.
Elon Musk highlighted that X currently boasts 550 million monthly users who collectively generate 100 to 200 million posts each day. Under his leadership, the platform has seen the introduction of various features aimed at enhancing the user experience, including upcoming audio and video call capabilities that will be compatible with Android, iOS, PC, and Mac devices.
In 2022, X introduced a subscription package for verified users with a blue tick mark, and in April 2023, Musk unveiled a feature that allows media publishers to charge users on a per-article basis.
These developments are part of Twitter’s broader efforts to enable users to monetize their content, including long-form text and extended video content.