X CEO Confirms Video Calling Is On The Way As Musk Continues Twitter Transformation

The list of new and proposed features coming to Twitter is still growing as the text-based social media network transitions into the "everything app" called X. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, has confirmed a big new addition to the platform: video calling. "Soon you'll be able to make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform," Yaccarino said in an interview with Sara Eisen on CNBC. This was her first TV interview since resigning as NBCUniversal's Chairman of Global Advertising & Partnerships to succeed Elon Musk as Twitter's CEO.

Yaccarino didn't give many details about the new feature, or when it would roll out. Presumably, video calls will be structured something like the app's direct messages platform, similar to Facebook's video calling feature. It's unclear if video calls on X would be limited to mutual followers, or made available only to customers paying for X Premium. The latter could be possible because X Premium — formerly known as Twitter Blue — is needed to access several other new features rolling out on the platform, as an incentive for people to subscribe to the app at a time when revenue is still fairly low.

Like video calls, many new features have only been proposed and have not yet launched on X, or are in beta with certain users. New additions to the platform since Elon Musk took over Twitter last year include creator subscriptions, posts that can be up to 25,000 characters, a Substack-like Articles tool, and the ability to upload long-form videos. Video seems to be a priority for the company, as it's gone out of its way to bring attention to these new features especially. After being fired from Fox News, political pundit Tucker Carlson launched a new original show on Twitter, and Apple recently promoted its new sci-fi series "Silo" by uploading the entire pilot to the site.

Online financial tools seem to be just as important to Twitter's transformation into X, if not more so. Recently, the company started looking for collaborators to develop a stock-trading hub, similar to Robinhood, within the app. It also plans to become a digital wallet or online banking service, similar to superapp WeChat, where people will be able to use X to send and receive payments, either to content creators on the site or outside third parties.

Online payments were specifically mentioned in the same interview as video calls, and both seem to be big parts of the company's future plans. "When Elon announced me joining the company ... I was joining him to help him transition Twitter to X, that everything app," Yaccarino said. The immediacy of video calls can play into X's brand as it establishes its new identity. Yaccarino added, "'In real time' is what's most important about the vibrancy of X and how people interact with it. And now it's all in one seamless interface."