Elon Musk plans to make the code of the new X algorithm public by January 18, according to a social media post on the platform on Saturday. The post said the code will be updated every four weeks along with comprehensive developer notes to help users understand what has changed and how it was being used to determine the organic and advertising posts being recommended to the users. The announcement also comes at a time when the platform’s AI chatbot is under fire.
The move isn’t the first time Musk has mentioned open-sourcing the algorithm since he bought out X (previously known as Twitter) in 2022. In 2023, Musk had made parts of the code running X open-source, along with making its AI chatbot Grok’s initial code for Grok-1 public in 2024.
However, the codes have since not been updated and Grok’s image and video generator, Grok Imagine, ran into trouble recently with users prompting the platform to generate sexualised and bruised imagery of women and children which were visible to all users on X.
Following reports on the misuse of Grok, the service was banned in Indonesia and Malaysia, while the Indian government directed X to take down all unlawful content and take action against offending users, apart from reviewing Grok’s technical and governance framework.
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“Open sourcing a platform’s algorithm can improve transparency around content ranking and advertising, allowing for greater scrutiny of safety and fairness claims,” says Tanu Banerjee, partner at law firm, Khaitan & Co. She cautions that transparency of code alone does not guarantee safer outcomes, which depend significantly on data practices, model training, and enforcement.
X is not the only social media platform built on open source. Users valuing privacy, interoperability and ethical technology practices have traditionally flocked to platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, and others. These platforms are meant as alternatives to the ‘big tech’ social media apps like Meta’s universe of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
Banerjee says: “Open sourcing does not materially change platform liability as content moderation and user-safety obligations continue to apply. While publicly available code may be misused for harmful purposes, such misuse remains subject to existing cybercrime and intermediate liability frameworks.”
In case of incidents like Grok Imagine, X is responsible for taking down objectionable content and has responded to the Indian government’s request to do so.
First Published: Jan 14, 2026, 18:18
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