Culture
culture
Rani Molla

See what Elon Musk’s X.com looked like through the years

Twitter, or what Elon Musk calls X, now uses the URL X.com. A year and a half after he took the social media company private, its rebrand as X is complete. For what it’s worth, Twitter.com still takes you to what many — most? — of us still call Twitter.

This is not Musk’s first company called X. In fact, he started X.com, an online bank that would become PayPal, back in 1999. Musk bought that url back from PayPal in 2017. In other words, the Gen Xer has long thought calling something “X” was cool.

Anyway, in honor of the URL rebranding, we thought it would be fun to look at where X.com used to bring you at various points in its history, courtesy of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

1999: Before Musk owned the URL it looks like it belonged to a software engineer, Robert Walker.

X.com in 1999 Robert Walker

2000: Here it is as the website for Musk’s second company, online bank X.com.

X.com in the year 2000

2001: X.com became PayPal.

X.com now PayPal 2001

2007: It later became something called PayPal Labs, “PayPal's showcase site which allows you to take our experimental products for a spin.” PayPal had been acquired by eBay in 2002.

PayPal Labs 2007

2013: In the 2010s, it was a relatively slick website for “x.commerce an eBay Inc. company”

x.commerce an eBay Inc. company

2024: And now it’s the site we know and hate.

x.com 2024

1999: Before Musk owned the URL it looks like it belonged to a software engineer, Robert Walker.

X.com in 1999 Robert Walker

2000: Here it is as the website for Musk’s second company, online bank X.com.

X.com in the year 2000

2001: X.com became PayPal.

X.com now PayPal 2001

2007: It later became something called PayPal Labs, “PayPal's showcase site which allows you to take our experimental products for a spin.” PayPal had been acquired by eBay in 2002.

PayPal Labs 2007

2013: In the 2010s, it was a relatively slick website for “x.commerce an eBay Inc. company”

x.commerce an eBay Inc. company

2024: And now it’s the site we know and hate.

x.com 2024

More Culture

See all Culture
Hyunsoo Rim
Greener grass
11h
Millennials may not have been the real job-hoppers after all

New BLS data shows late boomers had actually held more jobs by the same age.

Vibrant colored closed wooden doors in a row on blue sky and sea background. Choice and decisions concept
Millie Giles
GLOBAL STAGE
12h
Could Madonna, Shakira, and BTS make the FIFA World Cup final more like the Super Bowl?

Just because it’s the biggest soccer game in the world doesn’t mean it can’t feel like football to Americans.

Madonna at the New York Giants v New England Patriots final
culture
Max Knoblauch

Netflix is staffing up an apparent AI animation studio called INKubator

According to several public job listings, streaming giant Netflix appears to be building a GenAI animation studio called INKubator.

First reported by journalist Janko Roettgers in the Lowpass newsletter, INKubator seems to have launched in March and aims to “develop feature-quality content in a creator-led environment.”

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

Netflix is building an AI animation studio

As Lowpass reports, INKubator appears focused on AI-generated short-form animation, but listings imply ambitions toward longer-form content. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

INKubator wouldn’t be Netflix’s first foray into AI. Back in March, it acquired Ben Affleck’s AI filmmaking startup InterPositive — which trains on individual films’ already-shot footage — for as much as $600 million depending on certain targets.

Netflix’s potential future AI-generated animations could be served to an increasingly ad-packed streaming service. At Netflix’s Upfront presentation on Wednesday, the company said its ad-supported tier has now reached 250 million subscribers globally, up 31% from November.

culture
Saleah Blancaflor

Netflix confirms a “KPop Demon Hunters” world concert tour is on the way

Netflix has a “Golden” mine and it's digging deeper.

At its fourth annual TV Upfront presentation on Wednesday, Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard announced a partnership with AEG Presents to create a “KPop Demon Hunters” world tour that will bring the phenomenon to life.

In March, Bloomberg previously reported Netflix was planning a global world tour sometime next year ahead of the sequel in arenas that would hold 10,000 to 20,000 fans, though the news had not been confirmed by the company nor had a partner been in place at the time. 

“KPop Demon Hunters” is Netflix’s most watched film of all time, racking up 481.6 million views globally during the second half of 2025. Since its release, the HUNTR/X trio of Ejae, Audrey Nuna, and Rei Ami has appeared and performed at several major events including late-night talk shows, award ceremonies, and most recently at Coachella, where they were a surprise guest for Katseye. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the trio will be on the tour.

The announcement of the tour comes after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos shared in a recent blog post that the company spent $135 billion on licensing and original film and TV over the last 10 years.

This year, Netflix has a projected content spend of $20 billion, up 10% year over year, while its annual revenue forecast is between $50.7 billion and $51.7 billion. The streaming giant has brought in more than $46 billion in profit over the past decade.

Netflix said more details around cities and tickets for the concert tour are expected to come out later this year.

Millie Giles
TITLE HOLDERS
5/13/26
America’s most popular baby names haven’t changed in 7 years

Boy parents seem to have struggled to look away from one name in particular over the last decade.

Diaper pin

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC and Chartr Limited produce fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and are fully owned subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Money, LLC, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, Robinhood Gold, LLC, Robinhood Asset Management, LLC, Robinhood Credit, Inc., Robinhood Ventures DE, LLC and, where applicable, its managed investment vehicles.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC