In his latest controversial move as CEO, Elon Musk has installed a giant, glowing ‘X’ on top of the offices for the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Musk revealed earlier in July that Twitter would now be called ‘X’ – a letter he is known to have an inexplicable fondness for – bewildering the platform’s users, as they pondered what tweets and retweets would now be called.
He already renamed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp after he bought the platform, but he seems keen to make the global brand particularly luminous, too.
After all, the official slogan for X on the App store is now, “blaze your glory!”
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that the giant X Musk has installed on the head offices in San Francisco, California also glows.
The main problem – aside from the general nostalgia for Twitter’s old little blue bird logo – is that this new symbol really flashes and pulses, lighting up all the buildings around it.
In fact, it’s so bright, neighbours have complained and San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection (BID) is now investigating the structure in case it violates permit rules.
City officials say replacing such letters or symbols requires a permit for design and safety reasons.
They also need to stay consistent with the “historic nature of the building”, according to a BID spokesperson.
In an email to AP News, Patrick Hannan said: “Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation.”
Last Monday, San Francisco police also stopped workers removing the old logo and name from the side of the building because they had not cornered off the pavement to make it safe for pedestrians to pass by.
Now, in a written report, an inspector said company representatives had denied roof access twice to officials looking to inspect the logo. One rep said the sign was temporary, according to reports from Reuters.
It’s not just officials who are... unhappy with the new logo, either.
X users were quick to call out the logo on Musk’s own platform, with various accounts saying they would be “livid” if they were impacted by the new sign.
Unfortunately for the local neighbours, Musk seems to have no plans to keep X in San Francisco, despite moving his electric car company Tesla out of California and into Texas in 2021.
He wrote on X: “Beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend.”
Musk assumed ownership of the famous platform in October after a $44 billion (£34 billion) deal and has been making a series of major changes since.
That includes getting rid of the free blue tick assigned to verified accounts, introducing a new blue tick which is accessible to anyone willing to pay a monthly subscription, and introducing mass lay-offs.