Says Twitter's algorithm should be open source.
"Twitter algorithm should be open source"
How should X recommend content?
Q5459 answers2022-2026
Short answer
He agreed you have to see what is in frame. He said the X feed can be a little dark at times, and he switches to a domain-specific feed such as AI to actually learn what is going on.
All 59 answers, oldest to newest
2022 · 10 answers
One of the things he believes Twitter should do is open source the algorithm and make changes to people's tweets visible.
"open source the algorithm"
He said he wants the algorithm open source so people can critique it, find bugs or bias. Anything automated should be transparent, and any human deboost should be clearly identified on the tweet.
"that's why i'm an advocate of having the algorithm be open source"
He says good recommendations from accounts you don't follow also mean Twitter can show you relevant ads.
"If Twitter can accurately recommend tweets to you that you don't explicitly follow, it can by the same token, also show ads that are relevant to you."
He says a highly relevant ad is content and an irrelevant one is spam, so Twitter wants ads relevant to users' needs.
"an ad that is highly relevant is content. An ad that is irrelevant is spam. So we want ads that are as relevant to people's needs as possible."
He says Twitter's advertising was mostly optimizing for irrelevance.
"Twitter's advertising is actually for the most part irrelevance optimizing."
He says the thing to optimize is time people don't regret, citing people who regret hours spent on TikTok.
"I spent two hours on TikTok, but I regret those two hours."
He says what matters is true user minutes, not fake user minutes.
"the thing that actually matters is like true user minutes, not like fake user minutes."
He says since the acquisition he has pushed Twitter to maximize relevance rather than impressions.
"since the acquisition, I was like, no, guys, we need to maximize relevance."
He says Twitter should optimize for unregretted true human user minutes.
"So I think the thing we'd want to optimize for is unregretted true human user minutes."
2023 · 18 answers
He said the giant block lists are problematic. They mess up the recommendation system & create a DDoS vector.
"The giant block lists are problematic. They mess up the recommendation system & create a DDoS vector."
He said long day at Twitter HQ with eng team Two significant problems mostly addressed: 1. Fanout service for Following feed was getting overloaded when I tweeted, resulting in up to 95% of my tweets not getting delivered at ...
"Long day at Twitter HQ with eng team Two significant problems mostly addressed: 1. Fanout service for Following feed was getting overloaded when I tweeted, resulting in up to 95% of my tweets not getting delivered at all. Following is now pulling from search (aka Earlybird). When Fanout crashed, it would also destroy anyone else’s tweets in queue. 2. Recommendation algorithm was using absolute block count, rather than percentile block count, causing accounts with many followers to be dumped, even if blocks were only 0.1% of followers. Also, it’s trivial to bot spam accounts with blocks."
He said fixing the recommendation algorithm is our current top priority. Twitter engineering has been working super hard on this. Proud of the team.
"Fixing the recommendation algorithm is our current top priority. Twitter engineering has been working super hard on this. Proud of the team."
He said prepare to be disappointed at first when our algorithm is made open source next week, but it will improve rapidly!
"Prepare to be disappointed at first when our algorithm is made open source next week, but it will improve rapidly!"
He said our “algorithm” is overly complex & not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things , but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found! We’re developing a simplified approach to serve more compe...
"Our “algorithm” is overly complex & not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things , but we’ll patch issues as soon as they’re found! We’re developing a simplified approach to serve more compelling tweets, but it’s still a work in progress. That’ll also be open source. Providing code transparency will be incredibly embarrassing at first, but it should lead to rapid improvement in recommendation quality. Most importantly, we hope to earn your trust."
He said twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st
"Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st"
He said it will be made open source, but we’re finding so many bugs that those should be fixed first
"It will be made open source, but we’re finding so many bugs that those should be fixed first"
He said twitter will be updating its recommendation algorithm based on user suggestions every 24 to 48 hours
"Twitter will be updating its recommendation algorithm based on user suggestions every 24 to 48 hours"
He said most of the recommendation algorithm will be made open source today. The rest will follow. Acid test is that independent third parties should be able to determine, with reasonable accuracy, what will probably be shown...
"Most of the recommendation algorithm will be made open source today. The rest will follow. Acid test is that independent third parties should be able to determine, with reasonable accuracy, what will probably be shown to users. No doubt, many embarrassing issues will be discovered, but we will fix them fast!"
He said this is most of the recommendation code. In the coming weeks, we will open source literally everything that contributes to showing a tweet, such that the output can be at least roughly approximated.
"This is most of the recommendation code. In the coming weeks, we will open source literally everything that contributes to showing a tweet, such that the output can be at least roughly approximated."
He said nice work by the recommendations algorithm team! As always, changes will be open source. So far, over 1M lines of code have been uploaded to our GitHub repository.
"Nice work by the recommendations algorithm team! As always, changes will be open source. So far, over 1M lines of code have been uploaded to our GitHub repository."
He said the commitment to open source transparency and accepting a wide range of viewpoints remains unchanged
"The commitment to open source transparency and accepting a wide range of viewpoints remains unchanged"
Says the algorithm tries to maximize unregretted user time, and compelling links shared by many will be seen.
"The algorithm is trying to maximize unregretted user time on X, which is a good goal."
He said a major update to the recommendation algorithm is rolling out over the next few days. This will help surface smaller accounts and posts outside of your friend-follows network. As always, this will be made open source ...
"A major update to the recommendation algorithm is rolling out over the next few days. This will help surface smaller accounts and posts outside of your friend-follows network. As always, this will be made open source and undergo continuous improvement."
He predicts that any social network that does not raise the cost of bots will be swarmed and overwhelmed by them.
"my prediction actually is that any given social network that does not move in this direction will be swarmed with bots and will simply be overwhelmed."
He says elevating subscriber content above bot-amplified content is a very big deal.
"biasing things to where the subscribers effectively or premium users content is elevated above that of bot amplified content is I think a very big deal."
He says the fix for bots is to dramatically increase the cost of noise in the system.
"you have to do things that dramatically increase the cost of noise in the system"
He says the network has to raise the cost of manipulation, bots and trolls, since AI can now pass are-you-human tests.
"you have to, I think, bias the network to have basically raise the cost of manipulation and raise the cost of bots and trolls."
2024 · 6 answers
He said a change is coming to our recommendation algorithm that will ensure that all your followers see your pinned posts. This only applies to one pinned post every ~48 hours to prevent gaming of the system.
"A change is coming to our recommendation algorithm that will ensure that all your followers see your pinned posts. This only applies to one pinned post every ~48 hours to prevent gaming of the system."
He said actually, I made the algorithm open source and neutral to all parties, but of course that *is* “election interference” by her standards 😂
"Actually, I made the algorithm open source and neutral to all parties, but of course that *is* “election interference” by her standards 😂"
He said and it will get a *lot* better as we move to a fully AI-based post recommendation system, order the replies (and remove spam/scam) with AI and enable full semantic search with AI
"And it will get a *lot* better as we move to a fully AI-based post recommendation system, order the replies (and remove spam/scam) with AI and enable full semantic search with AI"
He said that was hilarious 😂 Unlike the other platforms, our algorithm is open source! And if you interact and argue with “right wing” accounts, which Cuban does a lot, the algorithm will assume that’s what you *want* to do a...
"That was hilarious 😂 Unlike the other platforms, our algorithm is open source! And if you interact and argue with “right wing” accounts, which Cuban does a lot, the algorithm will assume that’s what you *want* to do and give you more of it lmao."
He said yeah, the algorithm is open source and just tries to show people what they’re most likely to find engaging
"Yeah, the algorithm is open source and just tries to show people what they’re most likely to find engaging"
He said the new recommendation algorithm should be noticeably better. Please reply below if not.
"The new recommendation algorithm should be noticeably better. Please reply below if not."
2025 · 21 answers
Asked I remember the days when Twitter felt like a wasteland of left-wing trolls. Now it's a ..., he said a much improved Grok-powered algorithm is coming. Should help a lot.
"A much improved Grok-powered algorithm is coming. Should help a lot."
He said the 𝕏 recommendation algorithm is being replaced with a lightweight version of @Grok, so will soon be dramatically better! You should notice some improvement already.
"The 𝕏 recommendation algorithm is being replaced with a lightweight version of @Grok, so will soon be dramatically better! You should notice some improvement already."
Asked Anyone missing the old @X, he said we are working on a Grok-powered algorithm that will be great
"We are working on a Grok-powered algorithm that will be great"
He said if you’re interested in applying advanced AI to the 𝕏 content recommendation system, join us! Getting this right is fundamental to improving the collective intelligence of humanity.
"If you’re interested in applying advanced AI to the 𝕏 content recommendation system, join us! Getting this right is fundamental to improving the collective intelligence of humanity."
He said the biggest change that people should notice as we shift the recommendation algorithm to use more of @Grok AI is that banger posts from small accounts should start showing up in your feed
"The biggest change that people should notice as we shift the recommendation algorithm to use more of @Grok AI is that banger posts from small accounts should start showing up in your feed"
Says reply sorting will get much better and a future algorithm release should add "banger" replies to the main feed.
"Reply sorting will get much better."
He said using Grok to understand the intrinsic value of content so bangers from small or new accounts get shown is a major focus.
"Using @Grok to understand the intrinsic value of content so that bangers from small/new accounts get shown by the algorithm is a major focus"
He said the new X algorithm powered by Grok 4 Mini is better, will need about 20k GPUs to roll out to all users, and has higher latency but is worth it.
"Am trying out the new 𝕏 algorithm powered by Grok 4 Mini. It’s definitely better. Will require ~20k GPUs to roll out to all users and there is higher latency, but the juice is worth the squeeze."
He said all the heuristic ranking code will be scrapped in favor of a Grok AI recommendation system.
"This is just a snapshot of the current situation. All the heuristic code will get scrapped in favor of a Grok AI recommendation system."
He said the X algorithm will be purely AI by November, they will open-source it every two weeks or so, and by November or December users will be able to adjust their feed dynamically by asking Grok.
"The algorithm will be purely AI by November, with significant progress along the way. We will open source the algorithm every two weeks or so. By November or certainly December, you will be able to adjust your feed dynamically just by asking Grok."
He said X aims to delete all recommendation heuristics within 4 to 6 weeks, Grok will read every post and watch every video (100M+ per day) to match users with interesting content, and users will be able to adjust their feed by asking Grok.
"The 𝕏 recommendation system is evolving very rapidly. We are aiming for deletion of all heuristics within 4 to 6 weeks. Grok will literally read every post and watch every video (100M+ per day) to match users with content they’re most likely to find interesting. This should address the new user or small account problem, where you post something great, but nobody sees it. We will also be adding the ability for you to adjust your feed temporarily or permanently just by asking Grok."
He said Grok needs enough information in a post to assess which users will find it interesting, just as a human would.
"Grok needs enough information in the post to assessment which users will most likely find the post interesting, just like a human would need"
He said the X algorithm, derived from Grok and built by xAI rather than Nikita, tries to determine whether a post will be interesting, so a bare link gets weak distribution and a link with an interesting description or image gets distribution.
"This is utter crap. The AI algorithm derived from Grok and developed by xAI (not Nikita) simply tries to determine whether a post will be interesting to users. Posting a link with almost no description will get weak distribution, but posting a link with an interesting description/image will get distribution."
He said to get reach on X with Grok, write as if texting a smart human you have never met, because a bare link with nothing else will not be forwarded.
"To get the most reach on 𝕏 with Grok, just imagine that you’re texting a smart human who you’ve never met. If someone were to text you a link with nothing else to go on, you’re probably not going to think “wow, I should immediately forward this to everyone I know!” 🤦♂️"
He said Grok will recommend content based on what it thinks that user wants to see, not what users on average want to see.
"You are completely missing the point. Grok will recommend content to users based on what it thinks that user wants to see, not what users on average want to see."
He said by next month Grok will look at and understand all ~100 million X posts per day including images and video, and recommend content based on intrinsic quality.
"By next month, Grok will literally look at and understand all ~100 million 𝕏 posts per day (including images and video), no matter how small the account, and recommend content to users based on the intrinsic quality of the content itself. This is only possible with advanced AI using a lot of GPUs and will massively improve the quality of everyone’s feed."
He said he, not Nikita, owns the X algorithm, which is transitioning to a pure Grok-based AI recommendation system, and that X Chat and X Money (launching to the public soon) also report to him.
"Nikita deserves a lot of credit for fixing many things about 𝕏, but is not working on the algorithm. Blame for me problems with the algorithm – it still has a long way to go to be great. Transitioning from an inscrutable hairball of heuristics, which was the old Twitter algorithm, to a pure Grok-based AI recommendation system is being done by a team mostly from the @xAI side that reports directly to me. Same with making advertising relevant to users, which basically didn’t exist in legacy Twitter. The engineering teams building 𝕏 Chat, which is encrypted and has audio/video calling and file transfer, and 𝕏 Money (launching to the public soon) also report to me, although I’ve recently asked Nikita to get involved as he finishes up other work. If anyone out there wants to help make these products insanely awesome, please join us!"
He said timeline quality should improve almost every week, with occasional steps back, and advertising recommendations are switching to the same Grok/AI system as organic posts.
"You should notice rapid improvements in the quality of your timeline almost every week, but there will be two steps forward and one step back at times. We are also switching advertising recommendations to use the same Grok/AI system as organic posts, so quality of ads will get radically better."
He said the Following timeline now ranks posts of people you follow by Grok, with unfiltered chronological still available.
"Update your 𝕏 app and look at your Following timeline. Posts of people you follow are now ranked by @Grok! You can still access unfiltered chronological if you want."
He expects a half-decent recommendation algorithm in December, with Grok reading ~100 million posts a day. The test is whether excellent posts from accounts you have never seen — even new users with no followers — get widely shown.
"I think probably in December we'll finally have a half decent recommendation algorithm"
He said X is adding an Enhance-with-Grok posting feature that suggests smarter, more detailed posts plus image and video illustrations.
"We’re adding another feature to posting which is simply “Enhance” with Grok, which will suggest ways to make your posts smarter and more detailed and offer images and video illustrations"
2026 · 4 answers
He said the X algorithm is built by an xAI engineering team, not Nikita twiddling knobs.
"The 𝕏 algorithm is built by an @xAI engineering team, not Nikita twiddling knobs"
He said xAI is working on topic-specific For You tabs, e.g. a For You AI feed with no political rage bait, like auto-generated follow lists ranked by quality.
"The @xAI team is working on providing For You tabs that are specific to topics. For example, a “For You AI” that is focused only on artificial intelligence with no political rage bait. This would be like automatically generated follow lists with content ranked by quality."
He said another 30 or so xAI engineers are working on the pure AI-based recommendation system.
"There are another 30 or so xAI engineers working on the pure AI-based recommendation system"
He agreed you have to see what is in frame. He said the X feed can be a little dark at times, and he switches to a domain-specific feed such as AI to actually learn what is going on. He thinks there is too much political rage bait on X. Reality is between 'everything is fine' and 'the world is going to hell'; you can live in a real-world positivity bubble or a social-media negativity bubble.
"I do think there's a there's too much political rage bait on X"