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Silicon Valley & The Race for the Everything App

Elon Musk is the latest tech brainiac hoping to build a Chinese-style super app, this time on the bones of Twitter. Too bad Apple already got there first.

For Elon’s super app to thrive in the U.S. today, it would have to wrangle meaningful market share from specialized services that consumers rely on, a devilishly difficult task.
For Elon’s super app to thrive in the U.S. today, it would have to wrangle meaningful market share from specialized services that consumers rely on, a devilishly difficult task. Photo: Carina Johansen/Getty Images
Baratunde Thurston
August 6, 2023

Has Elon Musk finally taken a meaningful step towards justifying his still absurdly priced $44 billion acquisition of Twitter? Yes, I’m talking about rebranding the platform as X, ostensibly the foundation for creating a “super app” encompassing not just social media, but banking, too. Last year, Musk reportedly told Twitter staff that he was inspired by China’s WeChat, and wanted to transform Twitter into something similar: messaging, video, microtransactions. In other words: One app to rule them all.