In 2023, in what was still called Twitter, at least parts of the code that decided what it presented in your feed was open. But that GitHub repository is hopelessly out of date, with the majority of files appearing from the initial upload three years ago. Elon Musk says that in seven days, he’ll unlock SourceX’s new algorithm and finally give people a peek behind the scenes and possibly a technical explanation for why your feed is 90 percent rage.
Elon has always made promises to open-source parts of X, and has followed through at least partially, including Grok 1 in 2024. But Zee is now on Grok 3, and the Grok GitHub repository hasn’t been updated in two years. The timing of the announcement to open-source the X algorithm is also met with some skepticism, as Musk has drawn criticism from around the world and is in the political arena for Grok’s willingness to create deep fake nodes.
Musk says this release of the X algorithm will include “all the code used to determine what organic and advertising posts to recommend to users.” They also say that this will be just the first, that updates will come every four weeks, and that they will include developer notes highlighting any changes. Of course, considering how things are going in 2023, you’ll have to forgive us for taking this promise with a grain of salt.
