Giant, flashing ‘X’ sign removed from San Francisco headquarters after complaints, investigation

After the city of San Francisco received several complaints about the giant flashing “X” sign installed Friday on top of the building formerly known as Twitter headquarters, the sign has been removed.

On Monday, the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection received 24 complaints over the weekend about the sign, which was installed without permission from the city, including concerns about its structural safety and illumination, The Associated Press reported. The city began an investigation into the sign last week.

The sign was removed Monday.

Last week, San Francisco police stopped workers from removing the platform's bird logo from the outside of the building because they hadn’t closed the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if any part of the sign or other objects fell.

The change comes following Elon Musk's efforts to rebrand the social media platform Twitter to X, a change he announced earlier this month.

San Francisco:Flashing 'X' sign on top of Twitter building sparks city investigation

Why is Twitter now X?

After buying Twitter for $44 billion last year, Musk changed Twitter's bird logo to an "X," which now appears on the desktop and mobile version of the platform.

In a series of tweets about the platform rebranding, CEO Linda Yaccarino said X will transform the "global town square."

“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities,” she wrote last week. "Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine."

Musk has a history of using the letter X in his career and personal life. He is the CEO of rocket company Space Exploration Technologies Corp., which is commonly known as SpaceX. And in 1999, he founded a startup called X.com, an online financial services company now known as PayPal. 

Musk's son, with the singer Grimes, is also nicknamed "X."

Where is X headquartered?

X is headquartered in downtown San Francisco, a few blocks away from city hall and directly across from a residential building.

Contributing: The Associated Press; Isabelle Butera, USA TODAY