Elon Musk’s vision for X continues to take shape, with the platform transforming into an “Everything App” this year.
The billionaire entrepreneur’s decision to rebrand Twitter and overhaul the platform stems from a desire to emulate the success of China’s WeChat, a comprehensive “Everything App” used daily by more than a billion people.
Musk’s aim is to create a single app that encapsulates a range of services far beyond social media, including payments, ride-hailing, smart home controls, and more.
According to X CEO Linda Yaccarino, the evolution into this all-encompassing app will begin to materialise as early as this year, with financial services as its first major feature. Yaccarino announced this week that Visa will be the inaugural partner for a service called “X Money.”
In a post on the X platform, she celebrated the milestone:
The partnership positions X to compete with established digital payment platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App, while building the foundation for its broader goals.
Lessons from WeChat
To understand Musk’s bold aspirations for X, one needs to look at the success of WeChat in China. Initially launched as a messaging app by Tencent, WeChat has since matured into an indispensable part of everyday life for millions.
As tech investment expert Connie Chan explained back in 2015, WeChat’s power comes from integrating an enormous range of services into one seamless app:
“WeChat users in China can access services to hail a taxi, order food delivery, buy movie tickets, play casual games, check in for a flight, send money to friends, access fitness tracker data, book a doctor appointment, get banking statements, pay the water bill, find geo-targeted coupons, recognise music, search for a book at the local library, meet strangers around you, follow celebrity news, read magazine articles, and even donate to charity… all in a single, integrated app.”
The secret to WeChat’s success lies in its model of “apps within an app.”
“Millions (note, not just thousands) of lightweight apps live inside WeChat, much like webpages live on the internet. This makes WeChat more like a browser for mobile websites, or, arguably, a mobile operating system—complete with its own proprietary app store,” explains Chan.
By turning X into a similar ecosystem of integrated services, Musk envisions a platform where users can engage in a variety of activities without ever leaving the app. This could range from paying bills and booking appointments to riding in the forthcoming Tesla robotaxis or managing a smart home setup.
X faces challenges becoming an ‘Everything App’
While WeChat’s dominance in China is partly due to the country’s unique tech ecosystem and regulatory environment, Musk’s task of replicating such success in the West won’t be easy.
WeChat was able to flourish due to the lack of competing domestic platforms and the government’s encouragement of homegrown innovation. In Western markets, however, Musk must contend with a highly competitive landscape, established tech giants, and a more fragmented set of consumer preferences.
For X to succeed as an “Everything App,” it must not only deliver a seamless user experience but also convince sceptical consumers to trust the platform with sensitive data and financial transactions. This could be a tall order given the controversies, including high-profile layoffs, that have surrounded Musk’s leadership of the company.
Adding to the challenge is the sheer scope of the plan. While payments via Visa could be a logical and straightforward first step, achieving the integration of diverse services will require significant investment, infrastructure, and partnerships. His close relationship with the US president could pay dividends in these areas..
Musk has proven his tenacity in other industries, from sending rockets to space with SpaceX to creating electric vehicles with Tesla. His drive to turn X into a Western equivalent of WeChat shows that he thinks just as boldly in the social media space as in the realms of space exploration and renewable energy.
For users, the prospect of having a single app for all their daily activities could be appealing. However, controversies like that recent “salute” could make users wary about using an app for “everything” that is controlled by an often polarising and unpredictable figure.
If Musk and his team can navigate the challenges and execute their plan, X could be on the path to becoming a revolutionary digital ecosystem.
See also: IoT in 2025: Digital twins, mesh networks, VR, and more
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