On Wednesday, X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced that she would leave the company after being brought on by new owner Elon Musk just over two years ago.
“After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of X,” she shared in a post to the platform. “When (Elon Musk) and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company.
“I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App,” she said of Musk.
She concluded her statement by saying, “I’ll be cheering you all on as you continue to change the world.”
Yaccarino was recruited from NBCUniversal, where she led global advertising for over a decade. She inherited the X platform in turmoil, with weakening ad revenue and heightened brand safety concerns.
Her departure comes one day after Grok — the AI bot developed and utilized by the platform — was seen praising Adolf Hitler and ranting about “Jewish surnames” after it received an update over the weekend.
Reactions poured in after Linda Yaccarino announced her departure. They ranged from praise and admiration to others questioning if the Nazi-related comments from Grok were the final straw. Others questioned if the recent feud between Elon Musk and Donald Trump led Yaccarino to choose sides on the matter.
Meanwhile, Yaccarino also responded to her exit by noting that she remains committed to free speech in spite of her departure.
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