Elon Musk has hinted at plans to launch an alternative to Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Gmail, as part of his vision to convert the X social media platform into an “everything app.”
What Happened: On Friday, an X employee asked, "When are we making XMail?" Musk responded, "It's coming."
Musk's announcement came just an hour after Gmail’s official X account tweeted, "Gmail is here to stay."
The recent revelation follows rumors about Google’s purported plan to phase out Gmail. This misinformation stemmed from an email allegedly from Google, suggesting that "the journey of Gmail is coming to a close."
However, the fact is that the company has decided to discontinue Gmail’s basic HTML view, transitioning users to the latest version, also known as the Standard view.
Why It's Important: While Google frequently introduces new products, it is also known for discontinuing many of them. Over the years, the tech giant has shelved products and services like Google Play Movies & TV, Google Podcasts (scheduled to close later this year), YouTube Stories, Google Stadia, and Google Hangouts.
Meanwhile, Musk has been garnering attention since his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022. The tech mogul has been introducing or plans to roll out various features on the platform — such as video and voice calls, live streaming and even payments — aiming to transform it into an "everything app."
Last October, Musk tested a live video game streaming feature, which was seen as a potential rival to Twitch at the time.
Earlier this year, Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, made his debut on X by posting his first video on the platform. This move was interpreted as a potential challenge to YouTube’s dominance, given MrBeast’s sizable fan base and influence.
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