Tesla CEO Elon Musk: We know Twitter’s algorithm is dumb, but at least ...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has admitted limitations in social media platform X (formerly Twitter). In a post, the tech billionaire emphasized the platform’s real-time transparency as a key differentiator from competitors like Meta and TikTok. “We know the algorithm is dumb and needs massive improvements, but at least you can see us struggle to make it better in real-time and with transparency,” Musk wrote, adding “No other social media companies do this”.


He was responding to a post by the official handle of X Engineering which announced the open-sourcing of X's new recommendation algorithm on January 20, 2026, fulfilling Elon Musk's January 10 promise to release the code powering organic and ad post recommendations every four weeks with developer notes.



In a post earlier this month, the X owner said that the company “will make the new X algorithm, including all code used to determine what organic and advertising posts are recommended to users, open source in 7 days”.


“This will be repeated every 4 weeks, with comprehensive developer notes, to help you understand what changed,” he further added.

Elon Musk keeps promise that he made in 2023

Elon Musk first promised to make X algorithm open-sourced in 2023. That year, a version was made available, but it was never updated. In order to record ongoing changes, the company now intends to release updated code and thorough developer notes every four weeks.


The decision to make the algorithm open source comes as X faces pressure from regulators about content moderation and algorithmic bias. The European Commission recently extended a data retention order for the platform through 2026, while authorities in France and the UK have raised concerns about illegal content being shared. By making the code public, the company wants to let outside developers and researchers review the system and suggest technical improvements.