Paying for X? Elon Musk considers charging all users a monthly fee to combat 'armies of bots'

Elon Musk is debating bringing another big change to X, formerly Twitter: Charging all users a monthly fee.

In an interview Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk, the owner of X, said he was considering charging "a small monthly payment" to all users in what he said was an effort to "combat vast armies of bots" proliferating on the website.

Musk said X will come out with a "lower-tier pricing" than the existing cost for current X premium subscribers. He did not specify what the pricing could be.

"We want it to be a small amount of money," Musk said. "This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defense against the vast armies of bots."

X already charges users who are verified an $8 monthly fee, which includes the verified check and access to special features, like the ability to edit posts. For organizations, a verified subscription on X is $1,000 a month, with an extra $50 a month for each additional affiliate.

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How much did Elon Musk pay for Twitter?

Musk initially agreed to the acquisition of X, then known as Twitter, in April 2022 before attempting to back out, causing the company to sue him for completion of the purchase. The two eventually settled out of court and Musk completed the purchase in October of that year.

In total, he paid $44 billion for the social network.

What has Elon Musk changed about Twitter?

Since his takeover, Musk has brought about a great number of changes to the platform, most notably changing its name to X.

Other changes include charging users a monthly fee for the verified badge, adding a view count to posts and a 2,400-per-day post limit, 400-per-day follow limit and 500-per-day direct message limit.

In addition to the blue check, paid verified users can also edit posts, upload 1080p videos and create posts longer than the standard 240-character limit.

Musk has also talked of turning X into an "everything app," and building in a payment feature.