Musk signals big shift for creators on X

"In his latest volley in the creator‑economy arms race, Elon Musk has publicly backed a plan for X to increase creator payouts to compete directly with YouTube, potentially even paying more than Alphabet's streaming giant in some cases. In a December exchange flagged by outlets including WatcherGuru, Musk responded to an X user who argued that the platform should "crank creator payouts way way way way up" and "maybe even more than YouTube" by replying, "Ok, let's do it," and looping in X head of product Nikita Bier."

"That short reply carried an important qualifier. Musk added that the platform would have to "rigorously" enforce rules against "gaming of the system," a pointed reference to the engagement‑driven ad‑share program that has previously incentivized clickbait and reply‑bait threads. In earlier comments to Bier, Musk acknowledged that X is "underpaying and not allocating payment accurately enough," and bluntly conceded that "YouTube does a much better job," which is about as clear as it gets on where he believes X stands today."

"No conversation about creator payouts on X is complete without MrBeast. When Jimmy Donaldson decided in early 2024 to upload an existing YouTube hit, "$1 vs $100,000,000 Car!," directly to X, he did it as a test: "I was curious how much ad revenue a video on X would make." After about a week, he shared a screenshot showing roughly 156 million impressions, more than 5 million engagements and $263,655 in ad revenue. Then he undercut the headline number himself. In the same post, MrBeast wrote "MY FIRST X"

Elon Musk publicly supported a plan for X to raise creator payouts, potentially paying more than YouTube in some cases. Musk directed product leadership to pursue higher payouts while insisting on rigorous enforcement against gaming of the system. He acknowledged that X is underpaying and not allocating payments accurately enough and said YouTube does a much better job. High‑profile creator MrBeast tested X with an uploaded YouTube hit that generated roughly 156 million impressions, over five million engagements and $263,655 in ad revenue. Creators and analysts remain divided about the sustainability, fairness and reliability of expanded X payments.

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