Elon Musk says he will deactivate his phone number, use ‘X’ for calls

Musk’s move is seen as an attempt to promote X’s audio/video calling capabilities

New Delhi:

Tech mogul Elon Musk announced on Friday that he plans to use social media platform X (formerly Twitter) only to send messages and audio/video calls and will stop using his phone number.

“In a few months I will no longer be using my phone number and will only use X for text messages and audio/video calls,” he posted on X late Thursday night.

In a few months I will no longer use my phone number and will only use X for text messages and audio/video calls

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 9, 2024

Musk’s move is seen as an effort to promote the X’s audio/video calling feature, which was launched in October last year. Since then, he has been a passionate advocate for the development of X as an “everything app.”

X launches early versions of video and audio calling For some users last year. Musk described a post on the platform instructing users to enable the feature as “an early version of video and audio calling on X.”

However, unlike other similar services such as WhatsApp or Apple FaceTime, calls on the X do not appear to be encrypted.

According to X’s website, all accounts can receive calls, but only premium subscribers can make audio and video calls. The social media platform offers enhanced call privacy, a new setting on the X that helps protect users’ privacy, according to the website.

When this setting is enabled, the IP address is hidden from people making and receiving calls.

After rebranding Twitter as

In August last year, Musk teased the feature, saying users did not need a phone number to use the feature, which would be available on Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and PCs.

Earlier this month, X said it would test a new subscription model that would charge an annual fee of $1 (roughly Rs. 83) for basic functionality.

The new subscription, called “Not A Bot,” will charge users to like, retweet or quote posts from other accounts, and bookmark posts on the web version of the platform.

(With information from Reuters)