Elon Musk’s X launching YouTube clone for Smart TVs

Elon Musk’s X plans to launch a television app for Amazon and Samsung smart televisions next week, Fortune reported, citing an unidentified person working at the social media company.

Musk aims to encourage users to watch long videos on a bigger screen and he is set on competing with YouTube, the person said. The new app looks “identical” to YouTube’s television app, the person added.

Live-streaming platform Twitch, the encrypted messaging app Signal, and the social media forum Reddit are among some of the other services that Musk aims to compete with, according to Fortune.

Musk wants the X platform to become an "everything app". Beyond smart TVs, the social media network is also exploring video games, podcasts and long-form writing.

In the push to become a "video-first platform", X has been forging partnerships with the likes of former Fox commentator Tucker Carlson and former CNN anchor Don Lemon.

The platform, which has struggled to retain advertisers amid controversies ever since Musk bought it in 2022, said last month it would enable advertisers to run video ads next to certain content creators.