Elon Musk Gets Fresh Challenge In His X Plans As Naval's Airchat App Begins Making Buzz

Rounak Jain

April 13, 2024

This story was first published on the Benzinga India portal.

AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant has launched a new social media app called Airchat, to take on Elon Musk's hate speech-inundated X, formerly Twitter.

What Happened: Airchat, founded by Ravikant, offers a fresh approach to social media. The platform provides a push-to-talk layout for social media, allowing users to communicate via videos or Clubhouse-like podcasts.

The app depends on AI-powered transcription to enable you to express your views.

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Ravikant has hinted at the use of generative AI in certain features of the app, promising “perfect transcripts” and the ability for users to generate AI art for profile pictures and chat backgrounds.

. @naval's end goal for @getairchat pic.twitter.com/UVdqH5feW5
— Arjun Khemani (@arjunkhemani) April 12, 2024

Responding to a user asking about the end goal of Airchat, Naval said it is to "never feel alone again" and to "prevent the leaders of the world from screaming at each other on Twitter and leading us to a thermonuclear holocaust".

This feels like meeting my neighbors but in a good way. Social media with true humanity. @naval this is a W pic.twitter.com/0KMsm2fPMU
— Britton Winterrose (@bwinterrose) April 13, 2024

A user posted on X that the app "feels like meeting my neighbours but in a good way".

Okay so, the new Airchat is impressive, I did not expect it to be this good.

A lot are referring to it as a social walkie-talkie. It makes sense why Naval built this for himself.

It's invite only, directions at end of thread if you want one.

Some initial findings: pic.twitter.com/DOjUiRcG2Z
— WAAS (@ryan_waas) April 12, 2024

Airchat is free to use, and those interested can join a waitlist by registering on the official website using their mobile number.

See Also: Elon Musk Reacts As Grimes Shares ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Clip on X

Why It Matters: This is not the first time a social media platform has taken on X. In 2023, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms Inc. launched Threads. After initially struggling, it picked up steam after a few months.

X has been mired in controversies around hate speech on the platform. Companies like Apple Inc. and Walt Disney Co. withdrew ads from X due to concerns about hate speech but Musk accused the companies of blackmailing and went on to call for the firing of Disney CEO Bob Iger.

However, Airchat’s unique features, including push-to-talk and AI integration, could potentially set it apart from other social media platforms.

It remains to be seen if Airchat emerges as a viable alternative to X, or if it fizzles out.

Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.

Read Next: Can Gemini Read All Harry Potter Books At Once? Former Google Employee ‘Tried It’ And Here’s What Happened Next

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Airchat

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