Musk unveils X Chat, a messenger with encryption ‘similar to Bitcoin’

Tech entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk is set to launch a standalone messaging app called “X Chat” to compete with Telegram and WhatsApp, with a rollout expected within the next few months. 

“On X, we just rebuilt the entire messaging stack into what’s called ‘X Chat,’” said Musk during The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which aired on Friday. 

“It’s using a peer-to-peer-based encryption system, kind of similar to Bitcoin. It’s very good encryption; we’re testing it thoroughly.” 

Musk said he hopes the new messaging app will be released in a “few months,” adding it won’t have any “hooks for advertising” as he pointed to competitors like WhatsApp, which “knows enough about what you’re texting to know what ads to show you,” he said. 

“But then, that’s a massive security vulnerability because if it knows enough information to show you ads, that’s a lot of information,” he said, adding that hackers could use those same “hooks” to read private messages. 

Does WhatsApp read your messages?

WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, claims it doesn’t have access to private messages, explaining in its FAQ that messages between people are end-to-end encrypted using the Signal Protocol. This also covers voice messages, media and documents. 

However, it’s understood that “metadata,” such as who you chatted with and how often you talk with them, is not encrypted. WhatsApp also does not automatically encrypt backup copies of your chat history. 

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WhatsApp’s FAQ section on “Does WhatsApp collect or sell your data?” skirts answering the latter part of the question, only explaining that “we work with other Meta Companies to help provide, improve and support each other’s services.”

“If you choose to integrate your WhatsApp experience with other Meta products, we will share some information with Meta to make this possible.”

X Chat won’t have these hooks, says Musk 

Musk promised that X Chat won’t have these advertising “hooks.” 

“I’m not saying it’s perfect, but our goal with X chat is to replace what used to be the Twitter DM stack with a fully encrypted system where you can text, send files, do audio video calls, and I think it will be the least insecure of any messaging system.”

He added that the messaging app will be available as part of the X platform and as its own standalone app.