New York (AP): Elon Musk said Sunday that he plans to change the logo of Twitter to an "X" from the famous blue bird, marking what would be the latest big change since he bought the social media platform for
44 billion last year.

In a series of posts on his Twitter account starting just after 12 a.m. ET, Twitter's owner said that he's looking to make the change worldwide as soon as Monday.

"And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds," Musk wrote on his account.

The change isn't surprising given Musk's long history with the name "X," says Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. The billionaire Tesla CEO tweeted last October that "buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app."

Musk's rocket company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is commonly known as SpaceX. And in 1999, Musk founded a startup called X.com, an online financial services company now known as PayPal.

"Not sure what subtle clues gave it way, but I like the letter X," Musk tweeted Sunday.

Hours later on Sunday, Linda Yaccarino, the longtime NBC Universal executive Musk appointed as Twitter CEO in May, weighed in on the move.

"It's an exceptionally rare thing in life or in business that you get a second chance to make another big impression," she wrote on her Twitter account. "Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square."

Yaccarino wrote on Twitter that X would be "the future state of unlimited interactivity centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities."

But the change on Twitter was met with skepticism on the social media platform.

The change will be very confusing to a huge chunk of the Twitter's audience, which has been already souring on the social platform given a slew of other major changes Musk has made, Adamson said.

"They won't get it," he said. "It's a fitting end to a phenomenal unwinding of an iconic brand and business."

Earlier this month, Musk put new curfews on his digital town square, a move that met with sharp criticism it could drive away more advertisers and undermine its cultural influence as a trendsetter.

The higher tweet-viewing threshold is part of an 8-per-month subscription service that Musk rolled out earlier this year in an attempt to boost Twitter revenue. Revenue has dropped sharply since Musk took over the company and laid off roughly three-fourths of the workforce to slash costs and avoid bankruptcy.

Luring advertisers is essential for Musk and Twitter after many fled in the early months after his takeover of the social media platform, fearing damage to their brands in the enveloping chaos. Advertisers have cut back on spending partly because of changes Musk has made that has allowed for more hateful content to flourish and that has offended a wider part of the platform's audience.

Musk said in late April that advertisers had returned, but provided no specifics.

Musk's move to change Twitter's logo to an "X" also comes as Twitter faces new competition from Meta's new app, Threads, launched earlier this month. It has been seen as an alternative for those who have been upset with Twitter.

Threads is being billed as a text-based version of Meta's photo-sharing app Instagram that the company has said offers "a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations."

In the first five days of its launch, 100 million people had signed up for Threads, according to a post on Threads by Instagram head Adam Mosseri.

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Mumbai, May 8: NCP founder Sharad Pawar's remark on regional parties' possible merger with the Congress shows it has become difficult for him to manage his own party, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde latched on to Pawar's comment to target Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying the latter has already become "Congress-minded".

Another leader of the ruling 'Mahayuti' in Maharashtra said Pawar's remarks reflect that ground was slipping from under his feet in his home turf Baramati and the only option before him was merging his party with the Congress.

In an interview to The Indian Express, Pawar said that in the next couple of years, several regional parties will associate more closely with the Congress or may look at the option of merger with it if they believe that is best for their party.

To a question if that applied to his own party, Pawar told the newspaper that he doesn't see any difference between the Congress and his party because both belong to the Gandhi, Nehru line of thinking.

Pawar made it clear that any decision on strategy or the next step will be taken collectively. He also said that his party is close to the Congress ideologically and that Uddhav Thackeray is positive about working together with like-minded parties.

Asked about Pawar's remark, Shinde said the Shiv Sena (UBT) has already become Congress-minded.

"Pawar is a big leader and he makes such statements. But the Sena (UBT) faction has already become Congress as they speak the language of the Congress and Pakistan," Shinde, who heads the ruling Shiv Sena, said.

"Just the formality (of merger between them) is remaining," he added.

Fadnavis said that through his remark, Pawar might be suggesting that it was difficult for him to run his party and hence he may opt to merge it with the Congress.

"It is nothing new because Pawar has formed new parties and later merged them with the Congress," he said.

Former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who recently rejoined the ruling Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, said Pawar has been thinking about merging his party with the Congress for a long time and even the Congress had given the proposal to this effect to him.

"But Congress rejected the proposal to entrust the leadership to Supriya Sule. Pawar's fresh comment suggests that the ground is slipping from under his feet in Baramati. Even if that is not the case, he has no option but merge his party with Congress which will be seen as a merger of two loss-making companies," the former MP said.

BJP leader Prasad Lad asked whether the Sena (UBT) will merge with the Congress along with the Sharad Pawar-led party.

"Uddhav Thackeray has stopped saying 'My Hindu brothers and sisters' at the outset of his speeches. He has become friends with those who criticise Veer Savarkar. Only time will tell whether Thackeray will merge his party with Congress," he said.

NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule said her father made a generic statement.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Congress leader Vijay Waddetiwar said there was truth in what Pawar said.

"He has a long-term vision. People are fed up with the dictatorial regime and want a change of guard," he said, targeting the BJP-led government.

Chhagan Bhujbal of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP said he doesn't think regional parties will merge with the Congress.

"They are strong in their respective states and have formed governments in West Bengal and Odisha," he said, referring to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

The NCP founded by Sharad Pawar in 1999 split in July 2023 after his nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled against him and joined the Eknath Shinde-led government. The Election Commission and assembly speaker later recognised the Ajit Pawar-led faction as the "real NCP" and allotted the clock symbol to it, while the NCP (SP) group was given 'man blowing turha' as the symbol.