Get Guardian on GoogleAmerica’s billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk, has unveiled XChat, a new messaging platform, designed to compete with WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal in the social media space.
XChat, which is an end-to-end encryption platform, has among other features, vanishing messages, file sharing, and audio/video calling.
Musk described the tool as “all-new” in a post at the weekend, emphasising its focus on secure, private communication.
Musk said: “All new XChat is rolling out with encryption, vanishing messages, and the ability to send any kind of file.
This is built on Rust with (Bitcoin style) encryption, a whole new architecture. You can do audio/video calls without a phone number across all platforms.”
Reports claimed that the feature is already in beta testing among paid X subscribers. Leaked screenshots by app researcher Nima Owji showed support for group chats, a vanish mode, and a four-digit passcode to lock messages, a significant upgrade to X’s previous direct messaging capabilities.
XChat is part of Musk’s long-term goal of morphing X into a Western super app, similar to China’s WeChat.
This vision encompasses everything from messaging and payments to entertainment, commerce, and even dating.
Musk previously told employees he wanted X to function as a digital bank and dating app by 2024, part of a sweeping transformation that could change how users engage with the platform.
Checks also showed that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also building a “super app” in that aspect, through his side project, World, which recently launched an app store and biometric ID system called Orbs.
