The Deep View: X breaks precedent by open-sourcing its algorithm

Posted on January 21, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
X breaks precedent by open-sourcing its algorithm
Since Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, many people have claimed the algorithm change ruined the platform. Musk, now admitting the “algorithm is dumb and needs massive improvements,” has made the algorithm open-source. 
In an X post announcing the plan a couple of weeks ago, Musk said the repository would be updated every four weeks and include comprehensive developer notes so people could easily identify what changed. With Monday’s launch, Musk said making the model open-source would allow users to see the company struggle in real-time as it attempts to improve the model. 
Specifically, the open-source GitHub repository contains the X algorithm that determines what shows up on your “For You” feed on the platform — the content you find organically on your homepage. 
The model overview in the repository details how the algorithm works. A high-level look shows that the algorithm takes into account both in-network content (content from accounts you follow) and out-of-network content (discovered through ML-based retrieval), then ranks it using Phoenix, a Grok-based transformer model that predicts engagement probabilities for each post. However, if you dive deeper into the repository, you can learn exactly how it works, and people are taking to X to post the breakdowns of their findings. 
The bigger impact, however, is that this is the first social media platform to openly post its proprietary algorithms, which helps with transparency, as users can learn exactly why information is being served up to them and even suggest tweaks to popular issues.

Open-sourcing the model also helps spur innovation, as developers trying to launch similar platforms better understand and potentially learn how to do so on their own. Twitter is not a stranger to copycats, with the X rebranding sparking competitors such as BlueSky and Threads.
Open-sourcing the model continues a trend we’ve seen recently: companies offering more transparency and user control over the AI algorithms powering their media consumption. For example, with the launch of Sora 2 and its accompanying social media app, OpenAI unveiled a new type of recommender algorithm trained on natural language. Similarly, Instagram unveiled a feature in which you can use AI to personalize your Reels feed by selecting what you’d like to see more of.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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