Inside the code: Elon Musk to reveal how your X feed really works

Elon Musk said the full algorithm would be released as open source within seven days.

Representative image: Coder (Source: CANVA)

Elon Musk has announced that the social media platform X will make its latest recommendation algorithm public, including the underlying code that determines which posts and advertisements users see.

In a post on X, Musk said the full algorithm would be released as open source within seven days. He added that the company plans to repeat the process every four weeks, accompanied by detailed developer notes explaining what has changed.

The move comes as X continues to face pressure from regulators, particularly in Europe. Earlier this week, the European Commission extended a data retention order first issued to X last year, requiring the company to preserve information related to its algorithms and the spread of illegal content until the end of 2026.

Regulatory scrutiny has also intensified in France, where prosecutors last year launched an investigation into alleged algorithmic bias and unlawful data practices. X has previously dismissed that probe as politically motivated and a threat to free expression on the platform.

Musk did not explain why the company had chosen this moment to open its algorithm, but the decision follows ongoing criticism from users who have complained about seeing fewer posts from accounts they follow.

Last year in October, Musk acknowledged a “significant bug” in X’s “For You” feed and said it would be fixed.

X has increasingly leaned on artificial intelligence to shape its recommendations, particularly through Grok, Musk’s chatbot. He has previously said the long-term aim is for X’s recommendation engine to be almost entirely AI-driven, evaluating tens of millions of daily posts to tailor feeds more precisely to individual users.

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