The social media platform X will begin offering video and audio calling, owner Elon Musk announced on Thursday, a step towards turning the former Twitter into an “everything app.”
“Video & audio calls coming to X,” Musk wrote in a post on the platform, without specifying when the new features would be available.
The calling features would work on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC systems, and no phone number would be needed, he said.
“X is the effective global address book,” the billionaire added. “That set of factors is unique.”
Musk and his newly hired CEO Linda Yaccarino unveiled the rebranding of Twitter as X last month, saying it would become a “everything app” inspired by China’s WeChat that would allow users to socialize as well as manage their finances.
Twitter Payments LLC, X’s payment branch, was granted a “crucial” currency transmitter license from the US state of Rhode Island on Monday, allowing it to “engage in cryptocurrency-related activities” such as exchanges, wallets, and payment processors, according to the crypto website CoinWire this week.
The license allows X to “securely store, transfer, and facilitate the exchange of digital assets on behalf of its users,” according to CoinWire.
Since Musk purchased Twitter last October, the platform’s advertising business has imploded, as marketers have been dissatisfied with his managerial style and mass firings that have decimated content moderation.
In response, the tycoon has begun to establish a subscription base and pay model in order to generate additional money.
Many users and advertisers have expressed dissatisfaction with the site’s new fees for formerly free services, as well as changes to content monitoring and the reinstatement of previously banned far-right accounts.
Musk also killed off the Twitter logo, replacing its globally recognized blue bird with a white X.