On January 10, 2026, Elon Musk announced that X (formerly Twitter) will make its new recommendation algorithm open source within seven days. This initiative is intended to increase platform transparency by allowing the public to inspect the code that determines how both organic and advertising content is recommended to users.
Recurring Updates: Musk stated that the open-sourcing process will be repeated every four weeks to reflect ongoing changes to the system.
Developer Notes: Each release will be accompanied by comprehensive developer notes highlighting and explaining modifications.
Context for the Move: The announcement follows significant recent challenges for the platform:
EU Regulatory Pressure: The European Commission recently extended a retention order for X’s algorithmic internal documents through the end of 2026.
Bot Activity: A recent surge in crypto-related bot activity—over 7.7 million posts in a single day—led to algorithmic filtering that many users believed was a directed attack on crypto content.
Prior Commitments: While X published part of its algorithm on GitHub in 2023, critics noted it was rarely updated afterward; this new 2026 initiative promises a more regular, updated cycle.