There’s been no shortage of drama with Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform formerly known as Twitter — and now it looks like the rebranding of his purchase to X is not exactly scathe-free, either.
Upon the launch of X, Musk erected a massive, light-up version of the company’s logo on the top of its corporate headquarters in San Francisco.
Now, the city of San Francisco is coming after Musk and X, claiming that the (incredibly bright) sign went up without the proper permits and that Musk is denying officials the right to inspection.
X user Matt Binder posted a copy of the documents, which showed that inspectors were denied access to the HQ building two days in a row as the tenant claimed that the signage was a “temporary lighted sign for an event.”
X / Twitter won’t let city building inspectors check out the giant X logo on the roof of their HQ
inspectors have been denied access for the past two days upon visiting to inspect the structure https://t.co/bqc1JXuUbn pic.twitter.com/93R0bieIfs
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) July 30, 2023
X users pondered what it would be like to live near the sign. Then one person, Christopher J. Beale, responded with a video from his bedroom.
It’s worse than everyone imagined.
Imagine no more. This is my life now. https://t.co/k5QfAm8yuG pic.twitter.com/e7ECCM2NUD
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 29, 2023
Here’s another angle I forgot I had that shows the X strobing.
Also, my apartment building needs a bath. pic.twitter.com/t66erPuDlL
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 29, 2023
Crews are closing the sidewalk at 10th and Market in #SanFrancisco below the old #Twitter sign. pic.twitter.com/GhLLuhKsqp
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 30, 2023
However, by early Monday morning, the light was back on, shining brighter than ever.
Sunday evening…it’s back. pic.twitter.com/EARlPUoAlF
— Christopher J. Beale (@realchrisjbeale) July 31, 2023
Is X (formally known as Twitter) staying in San Francisco?
Musk confirmed over the weekend that X would be keeping its headquarters in San Francisco despite publicly trashing the city for months, saying it is in a “doom spiral” due to the mass exodus of major companies.
Many have offered rich incentives for X (fka Twitter) to move its HQ out of San Francisco.
Moreover, the city is in a doom spiral with one company after another left or leaving.
Therefore, they expect X will move too.
We will not.
You only know who your real friends are when…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2023
“San Francisco, beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend,” he wrote.