Technology billionaire Elon Musk has made a surprising announcement: In “a few months” it will ditch its phone number and completely switch to its social media platform, X, for texting and calling.
What happened: Musk made the announcement about X, declaring his decision to go all-in on X in his bid to make it an “everything app.”
“In a few months I will stop having my own phone number and will only use X for text messages and audio/video calls.”
However, the question remains how Musk will handle the two-factor authentication required by some apps and services.
While it can switch to a hardware security key for multi-factor authentication and end its reliance on SMS-based one-time passwords, X also requires a verified phone number, especially for accounts with blue checkmarks.
His followers pointed this out to X, and while some suggest that X might make an exception for its owner, it may not matter for now since Musk’s account has already been verified.
However, not all apps and services that offer multi-factor authentication support security keys, which could make it tricky for Musk if he ends up shutting down his phone number.
See also: X Premium and Apple Vision Pro: Elon Musk’s tips on the best way to experience X
Because matter: Musk and the CEO of Linda Yaccarino they have long been pushing to turn the social media platform into an “everything app.”
The “everything” part of this vision includes “unlimited interactivity,” from audio/video, messaging, payments and more, according to Yaccarino.
For what it’s worth, audio and video calling are already available on X. Premium users can also post longer, higher-quality videos to the platform and download them to their devices.
Premium users can also send private messages to everyone else on X, while non-paying users can only send them to those who follow them.
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