Billionaire Elon Musk has reportedly revealed plans to make people pay to use Twitter in the near future during a discussion around technology and artificial intelligence.
Speaking in a roundtable discussion with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as physicist Max Tegmark and the president and co-founder of OpenAI, Greg Brockman, the group got on to the subject of Musk‘s current pet project: X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Space X and Tesla boss has been the owner of the social media platform since October 2022 and, as well as changing its name, has already made a number of tweaks, including limiting the number of tweets an account can view, to purging verified accounts and introducing a premium subscription model.
However, it now seems that charging people to ‘make the most of the site’ through the optional upgraded tier (initially named ‘Twitter Blue‘) is set to go even further as during the roundtable, Musk said that the company is moving towards having everyone make “a small monthly payment” to use X.
In fact, as the above article would suggest, it appears that the South African business magnate has long had designs on moving towards a full paywall model, explaining his primary reason in response to a question about AI and bots on Monday, 18 September.
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“We’re actually going to come out with lower tier pricing”, said Musk. “We want it to be just a small amount of money. In my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots.
“The single most important reason that we’re moving to having a small monthly payment for the use of the X system is that it’s the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots.”
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While it is true that Twitter/X is flooded with bots, it goes without saying that the reaction online hasn’t exactly been positive, with many remarking, “This app will die” if people have to pay; “RIP Twitter X or whatever he wants to call it” and countless other versions of the same, very simple answer: no.
I'm not going to pay for Twitter because I'm the fucking product, not the customer. Get it straight, you apartheid a-hole. pic.twitter.com/ty8Yf7fCAt
Expanding on his justification, Muks said this approach will combat AI accounts “because a bot costs a fraction of a penny, or a tenth of a penny, but if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost of bots is very high, and then you also have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.”
Nevertheless, given the fact that there are currently around 640,000 X Premium subscribers — according to the most recent figures, anyway — out of an estimated 528.3 million monthly users, we’re going to guess you’ll find the majority aren’t willing to pay for what was once a free and fundamentally uncomplicated service.
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Would you ever be willing to pay for X (Twitter), or is this just yet another example of Elon Musk making this app way more complicated than it needs to be?
You can watch the full roundtable discussion below:
A local Manchester run club is holding two special running routes to see the total eclipse
Danny Jones
With the highly anticipated total eclipse fast approaching, people not just here in Greater Manchester but all over the UK, Europe and the rest of the world are gearing up to try and watch it – but this native running club are doing it a bit differently.
Eclipses occur once every 12-18 months, but this is set to be the biggest since 1999.
The moon is set to cover approximately 96-98% of the sun this coming Wednesday, 12 August, 2026, and rather than try to watch it from a window at home or drive to somewhere with supposedly ‘the best view’, local sports club Manchester Road Runners are turning it into their latest one-off event.
Sharing details online, the free-to-join local organisation, which boasts thousands of members on Facebook and various other platforms, will be timing things to make sure they catch the phenomenon.
Writing in the accompanying caption, the Road Runners say: “We’ve pulled some strings and have a very special event taking place on August 12th, a solar eclipse! Come run with us under a darkened sun next Wednesday from The Wharf at 18:30, with peak moon coverage expected at around 19:10.”
Better still, they’re also teaming up with their trail running spin-off club for an even more scenic twist on the evening excursion.
“If you prefer to experience your solar phenomena under the wide open skies”, they go on to write, “our friends over at Trail Division will be holding a hike/run off road, meet at Piccadilly Station at 18:00 to get shady in the great outdoors.”
Fortunately, they have issued an important disclaimer, going on to remind runners that “while beautiful and majestic, the sun should NEVER be directly looked at in the face unprotected”, signing off by adding, “Respect the sun, respect your peepers, stay ocularly safe out there.”
If you’ve never come across MRR before, they’re probably the biggest run club in the entire Greater Manchester region and their social-first jogs, intervals, track sessions and more revolve around meeting back up with your mates for a wholesome pint and a chat.
For many, it’s the biggest and the best in the city.
As for the eclipse run, it’s set to be a very magical variation on their usual Wednesday evening meets.
Quite rightly, they also point out in the post that you can actually buy certain glasses to view eclipses on these rare occasions, with search traffic often ramping up in and around these events.
Meanwhile, the Trail Division branch is yet to confirm the route for their run/hike, but it will most likely remain in the nearby North West vicinity; keep your eyes peeled on their social media pages (linked above) for more information and other upcoming trail events.
Speaking of trail runs, there’s a pretty beautiful albeit challenging one coming up next month…
Stunning vistas, walkers welcome, and multiple distances available.🏃♂️🥾
And the best part? It's less than 90 minutes away from Manchester. 🏞️
Oasis promoters drop biggest Knebworth hint yet after securing license around key date
Danny Jones
Not that we’re the type to get carried away, but we’ll confess that our curiosity, interest and general levels of anticipation have been piqued, as Oasis’ main promoters have recently renewed the license to host events at the infamous Knebworth.
My word, is this it? Like the reunion, is it ACTUALLY going to happen?…
We’re sure the raw, uncontrollable excitement will come should it be fully confirmed, but for now, all we know is that our colleagues in music media, SJM Concerts, have renewed the land in and around Knebworth Park and House for live entertainment once again.
Moreover, the company have also done so on a rather fitting date decades on from the original and legendary outdoor gigs.
As can be found on the planning application section of the North Hertfordshire Council website – the county in which the storied Britpop gigs took place – a fresh license to hold new events.
If/when the announcement happens, the already granted permission will allow for a capacity of up to 125,000 and a curfew of 3am.
We know the original Knebworth shows were beyond iconic, but let’s say this would be nailed on to be nothing short of absolutely box office.
Besides having also helped promote Oasis’ colossal Live ’25 reunion tour last summer, it’s also worth noting that they secured said license just over a week before the 30th anniversary of the pair of nights back in 1996: 10-11 August, to be specific.
The licence is said to have come into effect this past Saturday (1 Aug) and is believed to be indefinite.
What added even more fuel to the fire of these well-established rumours over the past year was when Baroness Sharon Taylor of Stevenage told the House of Lords the band would be playing FIVE whole nights at Knebworth in the future, before later clarifying that she was speaking in “hypothetical terms.”
All that being said, it’s fair to say we’ll be keeping a very keen eye on socials over the next few days, in particular, just in case.
The Manc has reached out to SJM for an official comment (surprise, surprise), but we are yet to receive a response regarding the matter.
Your silence speaks volumes, just saying.
This coming Monday, 10 August 2026, will mark the official 30th anniversary of Oasis at Knebworth 1996, and with the likes of ‘Wonderwall’ seeing a chart resurgence as the go-to England anthem at this year’s World Cup, we’re choosing to be optimistic. What about you?
Danny Jones -
19th September 2023 
