X is overhauling the algorithm that determines which posts appear in its “For You” feed, a move Elon Musk says is long overdue.
Musk said the recommendation system still “needs massive improvements” and acknowledged that it remains flawed. To address this, X’s engineering team will begin publishing updates to the algorithm on GitHub every four weeks, along with clear explanations of what has changed. The goal, Musk said, is to make the system more transparent, even as it is being actively rebuilt.
“We know the algorithm is dumb,” Musk wrote on X, adding that open-sourcing the code will allow users to see the company work on improvements in real time. He noted that no other major social media platform currently offers this level of visibility into how its recommendation systems operate.
According to X’s engineers, the revamped system is built on the same underlying architecture as Grok, the chatbot developed by Musk’s AI company xAI. While X has not confirmed whether the two systems share training data or model weights, the shift signals a move toward a more AI-driven approach to ranking content, rather than relying heavily on traditional rules-based and engagement-focused signals.
X did not provide detailed technical explanations about how the new system works in practice. The platform, formerly Twitter, originally displayed posts in reverse chronological order when it launched in 2006. That changed in 2016, when algorithmic ranking became the default, prioritizing posts based on predicted engagement.
Musk has criticized that system for years, both before and after acquiring Twitter in 2022. He has described the algorithm as a “black box,” arguing that it can amplify divisive content and misinterpret user behavior, such as assuming shared posts signal approval even when they are shared out of outrage.