Daily chat gets a dose of X-factor

TAKING ON META COULD PROVE A TALL ORDER FOR ELON MUSK'S MESSAGING APP

- CHRISTINA MONIZ

WHATSAPP MIGHT BE the most popular chat platform, but it's not exactly synonymous with privacy. While the Meta platform has added many layers of protection over the years, competing apps like Signal and Telegram have taken advantage of this to nibble away at its market share. Now Elon Musk has thrown his hat into the ring with the launch of XChat, a messaging feature unveiled earlier this month to push X into the territory of "private and secure communication".

While X had a DM feature earlier, XChat is a complete overhaul of the existing system. According to Musk, XChat is built on a "whole new architecture" that incorporates what he describes as "Bitcoin-style encryption" to enhance privacy. He has also announced that his ambition is to transform X into an "everything" app that offers messaging, media and even dating. XChat is currently available to some paid X subscribers, as per TechCrunch.