Elon Musk Says He’s Considering Putting Up a Paywall for All Users on X

Elon Musk is considering making users pay a “small monthly fee” to use X, formerly known as Twitter, in an attempt to combat the “army of bots” on the platform.

Musk, who owns X, announced his plans in a Spaces chat with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. The billionaire didn’t disclose how much users would have to pay or when the change might roll out.

Some users now pay $8 for X Premium monthly subscription service. Paying for X Premium means additional features including a blue checkmark, increased visibility, and less ads. 

It’s unclear whether users paying Musk’s “small monthly fee” would get any additional perks.

Musk told Netanyahu that requiring people to pay to use X was the only way he could think of to keep AI-powered bots, which he has long seen as one of X’s biggest problems, off the platform.

“A bot costs a fraction of a penny, call it a tenth of a penny, but even if someone has to pay a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high,” Musk said.

Besides making all users pay to use X, the billionaire also announced a lower-tier model of X Premium, though he did not offer additional details.