Elon Musk has proposed that the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, may require payment from all users to access.
The billionaire claimed that a payment system was the only way to combat bots in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO announced that “we’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system.”
The BBC contacted X for more information, but the business has not yet released a statement.
It’s unclear if this was merely an off-the-cuff remark or an indication of more concrete plans that have not yet been made public.
Mr. Musk has long claimed that paying for verification is the best way to get rid of bots and false accounts on the social media platform.
Since assuming control of Twitter last year, he has tried to persuade users to subscribe to an upgraded service, now known as X Premium.
This has been accomplished by providing paying subscribers with more benefits, such as longer postings and greater platform prominence.
Users can still use X for free for now, though.
Despite the company’s obvious financial incentive to charge customers, Mr. Musk claimed that the goal of charging consumers is to combat bots.
Making a bot only costs pennies, he claimed. “However, the effective cost to bots is very high if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount.”
In the US, X Premium now costs $8 (£6.50) a month. Depending on the nation a subscriber is in, the price varies.
The richest man in the world stated that he was now considering more affordable solutions for customers.