Twitter.now relaunches original Twitter as X Corp fights trademark battle

Operation Bluebird, a Virginia-based startup, has launched Twitter.now, a new social media platform built to revive the original Twitter experience. The move puts the startup in a direct legal fight with Elon Musk's X Corporation over the Twitter trademark.

The startup was founded by Stephen Coates, former general counsel of Twitter, and his colleagues. Twitter was acquired by Musk in 2022 and later renamed X. Operation Bluebird now argues that X abandoned important trademarks linked to the old platform.

Lawsuit and launch

X Corporation sued Operation Bluebird to stop the launch of its competing service. Months of uncertainty followed, but Coates said the startup had waited long enough for a formal ruling and decided to move forward.

“We are a small company, we have investors, and we have a product,” he said.

At an April 2026 hearing, US District Judge Colm Connolly reportedly made tentative comments suggesting X could have abandoned certain intellectual property claims involving “Twitter,” “tweet” and the Twitter bird logo. No written order had been issued at the time of the launch, but Coates said the startup saw the judge's comments as enough to proceed.

What Twitter.now offers

Twitter.now says it has no affiliation with X Corporation. The platform currently has hundreds of users and includes familiar features such as replies and reposts.

One major selling point is Vera, an artificial intelligence-powered “veracity engine” designed to analyse posts and give real-time information about the reliability of claims. There is also a feature called the “Trust Dial,” which lets users influence how much trust they place on content in their feeds.

The platform's philosophy is “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.” Users can express their views, but content deemed spammy, manipulative, harassing or deliberately misleading may get reduced visibility.

Twitter.now is testing a paid early-access model. Users can contribute $20 as “Founders” or $40 and above as “Fighters.” The company says this approach could limit bots and reduce dependence on advertising.

Trademark fight far from over

Trademark attorney Josh Gerben believes Operation Bluebird has a potentially workable argument that X abandoned the Twitter trademark. He cautioned that the dispute remains unresolved.

With Twitter.now now live, the legal confrontation could enter a more consequential phase. For millions who remember the original Twitter, the launch is an attempt to reclaim one of the internet's most recognisable names and challenge the direction Musk took after acquiring the company.

In a related move, Musk has launched xMoney, a digital financial service on X that lets users send money, earn rewards and carry out everyday transactions without leaving the platform. He has long promised to turn X into an “everything app.”