San Francisco: In a candid acknowledgment that stirred fresh debate about creator monetization, Tesla and X (formerly Twitter) CEO Elon Musk has admitted that the platform is “underpaying” content creators and failing to allocate payouts accurately. Musk’s remarks came during a discussion thread on X about the platform’s monetization system, sparking reactions from both users and executives.
The exchange began when Nikita Bier, an X executive and entrepreneur, announced upcoming updates for the platform’s “power users.” “Over the next week, I’ll be dropping some small upgrades for power users. Most of these things were quick fixes that somehow fell through the cracks,” Bier posted.
A user named Peter Duan (@BTCBULLRIDER) responded, highlighting issues with creator payments. “Please fix the monetization. I have consistently compared my payouts with my peers and have been consistently underpaid,” he wrote.
Bier replied to the user, expressing frustration with the current model. “At this point, I think creator payouts do more harm than good—and we need to off-ramp to a different system,” he commented.
Musk, however, disagreed with the executive’s assessment. Responding directly to the thread, the billionaire entrepreneur stated, “No, the issue is that we are underpaying and not allocating payment accurately enough.” He further acknowledged that YouTube performs far better in revenue sharing, writing, “YouTube does a much better job.”
Musk’s admission comes amid growing dissatisfaction among X creators, many of whom have complained about delayed payments, inconsistent earnings, and lack of transparency in the platform’s monetization metrics.
The creator monetization program, introduced under Musk’s leadership, was designed to reward verified users for ad engagement with their posts. However, creators argue that the payouts remain unpredictable and insufficient, especially when compared to rival platforms such as YouTube.
Bier, who previously sold his viral app “tbh” to Facebook in 2017, has been overseeing product updates at X to improve engagement and user experience. His announcement of “quick fixes” signals ongoing efforts to refine the platform, but Musk’s latest acknowledgment underscores the deeper monetization challenges X continues to face as it competes with more established content platforms.
