Elon Musk has already released his own version of ChatGPT.
Now it seems the tech entrepreneur is about to take on Google’s Gmail by creating an email service of his own.
In an exchange on his social media platform X, Musk has revealed that a product called ‘XMail’ is ‘coming’.
He’s offered no more details about the service, so it’s unclear when it may be available, although it’s expected to be integrated within the X app.
MailOnline has contacted the press department at X (formerly Twitter) for comment.
In an exchange on the social media platform, the tech boss has revealed that a product called ‘XMail’ is ‘coming’
READ MORE: Elon Musk launches ‘sarcastic’ AI
Grok responds with ‘a little humor’
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The news was revealed when Nathan McGrady, an engineer at X posted the message: ‘When we making XMail?’
Musk simply replied with the words: ‘It’s coming.’
Musk has a habit of making outlandish promises that don’t come to fruition, so it’s worth taking this one with a pinch of salt.
Even if XMail is released, it will have to be something special to usurp Gmail, the world’s most popular email service
According to Demand Sage, Gmail has more than 1.8 billion active users globally as of 2024.
Social media consultant Rhea Freeman said X’s version of Gmail ‘might happen’ and if it does ‘it’ll be interesting to see the uptake’.
‘Elon has made huge changes to Twitter and doesn’t seem to have public opinion on side, so whether people will trust X with their email management will be something to watch,’ she told MailOnline.
Elon Musk (pictured) has already been vocal about his long-term ambition with X to turn it into an ‘everything app’
Gmail is the world’s most popular email service with more than 1.8 billion active users globally (file photo)
Elon Musk’s broken promises
2013: As Tesla owner, Musk said ‘supercharging is and always will be’ – but went back on this a few years later
2017: Musk said full self-driving Tesla cars will be ready in six months – but ‘full self-driving’ software upgrades came four years later
2019: Tesla unveils Cybertruck said to be released in 2021 but the first one for users isn’t made until July 2023
2021: As SpaceX CEO, Musk said his Starship would go into orbit in January 2022 but the first (failed) orbital launch didn’t happen until April 2023
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‘Also, X as an email address? Many people still associate that letter with sex based content, so would people deflect from Gmail that they know, trust and have used for years?’
Musk has already been vocal about his long-term ambition with X to turn it into an ‘everything app’.
This app could one day incorporate parts or all of X (Twitter), as well as online services and utilities such as ridesharing, food deliveries and, if Musk’s post is to be believed, email.
It’s possible XMail is being developed at xAI, the company founded a year ago by Musk that works specifically in the area of artificial intelligence.
In November, xAI’s first product, the ‘sarcastic’ chatbot ‘Grok’ – its answer to ChatGPT – was unveiled.
Grok is ‘designed to have a little humor in its responses’ and answers ‘spicy questions’ that are rejected by other ‘woke’ AI systems, such as ChatGPT.
Grok is currently only available for US users who are subscribed to X Premium+, the top tier of X’s paid subscription option, which costs a hefty £16 per month.
Since his takeover more than a year ago, Elon Musk has made a number of controversial changes to Twitter.
Aside from changing the name of the app to X, these include firing 80 per cent of the firm’s workforce and putting the platform’s features behind a paywall.
Despite this, X has an impressive 230 million daily active users and is expected to become profitable this year, X CEO Linda Yaccarino has said.
Also this week, Musk gave an update on the patient who had a brain chip implanted by one of his other major companies, Neuralink.
The patient appears to have fully recovered and is able to control a computer mouse using their thoughts, Musk posted on X.
Timeline of Elon Musk’s eventful time at Twitter so far
October 27, 2022: Musk is officially made the new owner of Twitter, and tweets ‘the bird is freed’.
November 1, 2022: Musk confirms plans to change the system of ‘Blue Tick’ verification on Twitter, for a reduced subscription fee of $8 a month.
November 4, 2022: Musk lays off half of Twitter’s workforce as an alleged cost-cutting measure, claiming he had ‘no choice’.
November 9, 2022: Musk launches the ‘Twitter Blue’ subscription service which verifies accounts for a monthly fee.
November 11, 2022: The Twitter Blue service is paused due to accounts purchasing verification and using it to impersonate brands and public figures.
November 12, 2022: Musk fires 80 per cent of Twitter contractors without warning.
November 15, 2022: Musk fires employees that posted negatively about him on the business messaging app Slack. The lawsuit between Musk and Twitter is dismissed.
November 16, 2022: Twitter staff are told they need to sign a pledge to be able to stay on in their roles where they would be ‘working long hours at high intensity’ or receive three months of severance pay, resulting in a mass exodus.
November 18, 2022: A news-ticker was projected onto Twitter HQ in San Francisco dubbing Musk as a ‘space Karen’, ‘mediocre manchild’ and ‘bankruptcy baby’.
November 23, 2022: A Twitter user reported that 5.4 million phone numbers and email addresses leaked on the dark web, before his account was suspended.
November 26, 2022: Financial Times revealed that 50 of the platform’s top 100 advertisers have paused their ads.
November 29, 2022: Platformer reported that Twitter is in the process of reinstating around 62,000 banned accounts that each have more than 10,000 followers.
December 12, 2022: Twitter Blue is re-launched with new Blue Tick reviewing process.
January 11, 2023: Twitter starts automatically redirecting users to the ‘For You’ tab – its algorithmic feed of tweets – every time they open the app.
February 8, 2023: Twitter expands the character limit to 4,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers in the US. Shortly after, the site encounters technical difficulties.
February 12, 2023: Musk orders staff to revamp Twitter’s tweet promotion algorithm after his Super Bowl tweet didn’t get enough impressions.
February 15, 2023: Twitter announces it will remove SMS two-factor authentication (2FA) from the free version of Twitter – a decision a security expert labelled ‘absurd’ that will lead to ‘so many accounts hacked’.
February 25, 2023: Twitter reveals a fresh round of layoffs that brought its workforce down to under 2,000 – a sharp fall from the 7,500 employed when the billionaire first took over in October.
March 28, 2023: Musk announces it will stop people from voting in Twitter polls or having their tweets appear in the For You tab if they do not pay for Twitter Blue.
April 11, 2023: Musk gives an interview with the BBC at Twitter’s San Francisco HQ where he says he’s been sleeping on the floor of the company’s offices. Musk also accused the interviewer of lying because he couldn’t back up accusations about hate speech on the platform.
June 21, 2023: Musk says he is ‘up for a cage match’ fight with rival tech CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
July 1, 2023: Musk announces limits on how many tweets users can see per day – 600 for people who aren’t signed up for Twitter Blue, and 6,000 for Twitter Blue subscribers.
July 2023: Twitter is rebranded to X – a recurring letter in Musk’s life and career.
September 18, 2023: Musk said he will likely soon charge a small fee for the use of Twitter/X.
November 15, 2023: Musk appears to endorse a tweet that claims Jewish people have been ‘pushing hatred against whites’, leading to accusations of anti-Semitism.
December 21, 2023: X suffers a global outage