Elon Musk's 'X' Sign On Twitter HQ Is Coming Down As Fast As It Went Up
After both a residential and social media controversy, the newly-installed X sign on top of Twitter's headquarters has been taken down. ABC7 confirmed that contractors have been spotted removing the sign as well as a vertical, non-flashing version previously installed on the side of the building. X Corp., nor founder and X owner Elon Musk, has not commented on the removals, but it has been revealed that the signs were erected without the proper permits, according to a San Francisco Department of Building Inspection complaint. What's more is that city building inspector Mauricio Hernandez writes in the complaint that he was denied access to the building for further investigation.
"Spoke with [Twitter] representatives and Building maintenance engineer representatives," wrote Hernandez. "[Twitter] representative [declines] to provide access but did explain that the structure is a temporary lighted sign for an event."
However, that didn't seem to be the case when it was first erected. The sign caused major controversy when a video of the new sign flashing brightly was posted on social media. It caused even more of a stir when a tenant of its neighboring apartment complex posted a video on how it is shining and strobing directly into residential homes.
Imagine no more. This is my life now. https://t.co/k5QfAm8yuG pic.twitter.com/e7ECCM2NUD
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 29, 2023
X doesn't mark the spot
As previously reported on by SlashGear, the X sign was the subject of San Francisco scrutiny due to inspectors claiming that two separate parts of the headquarters being considered unsafe. It was speculated by reporter Matt Binder that the sign on top of the headquarters was held down by sandbags, which could be seen from aerial shots of the sign's construction. Furthermore, another sign on the building was to be investigated by the Department of Building Inspection – this time, it was the remnants of the old vertical Twitter sign that still had the letters "er" hanging. According to ABC7, those remaining letters appear to have been removed.
It is unclear what will take the place of the massive strobing X, but the same can also be said for the X logo in general. Spurred by the sudden rebranding of Twitter into X, the logo has been scheduled to undergo changes before X Corp. decides on a new one. Not only will the logo undergo copyright-friendly changes, but there is a chance it could be changed to something entirely different due to a 2017 Meta patent. Needless to say, the X rebrand has been filled with setbacks, and a prospective timeline on how the removed X will be replaced remain as erratic and likely costly as the rebrand has been.