The story behind Twitter's new logo: A fan submitted it to Elon Musk

Musk’s stated intentions for Twitter have fluctuated over time, having initially started as a quest to eliminate bots on the service and preserve free speech.

Elon Musk has chosen the new logo for Twitter, replacing its signature blue bird with a stylized X as part of the billionaire’s vision of transforming the 17-year-old service into an everything app.

Musk invited his 149 million followers to suggest an X logo, then chose one of the designs and made it his new profile picture.(Twitter/@Elonmusk)

It only took 24 hours. Late on Saturday, Musk invited his 149 million followers to suggest an X logo, then chose one of the designs and made it his new profile picture. He confirmed in responses to followers that he intends to adopt it as an interim design, which “probably changes later, certainly will be refined.”

While crowdsourcing the logo, Musk changed his profile information to read “X.com,” a web address that now redirects to corresponding user pages on twitter.com. Together with Twitter Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino, Musk said the move is part of a broader overhaul that will see all familiar “Twitter” and bird branding stripped away.

Musk’s stated intentions for Twitter have fluctuated over time, having initially started as a quest to eliminate bots on the service and preserve free speech. He has since talked about Twitter as an accelerant for delivering X, his vision for an everything-app akin to Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat.

In supporting tweets on Sunday, the recently appointed CEO explained that the X service is envisioned as an AI-powered “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities.” It would include payments and banking alongside audio, video and messaging.