X launches rebuilt, AI-powered advertising platform

On Thursday, social media platform X began a phased rollout—a strategy of releasing a product in stages—of a rebuilt, AI-powered advertising platform. According to X, the new platform features more modern retrieval and ranking systems, which are AI-driven mechanisms used to select and order advertisements for users. The technology powering the new ad platform is provided by xAI, X’s technology partner.

This launch comes as X’s advertising business shows signs of a turnaround. Market research firm eMarketer has reported that the platform’s ad business is turning around, providing the following revenue forecasts:

• An estimated ad revenue of $2.26 billion in 2025
• Ad revenue rising to $2.46 billion in 2026

While these figures indicate upward momentum, they remain below the levels of Twitter’s 2021 ad business.

Monique Pintarelli, the head of global advertising at xAI, praised the transition, stating that very few companies would have the ambition and technical courage to completely rebuild their entire advertising platform in such a short timeframe. She described the effort as classic X and xAI—bold, fast, and focused on building something substantially better for advertisers. Pintarelli explained that the new system is designed for rapid updates. “We are designing this new ad stack to enable more rapid and seamless integration of ongoing innovation. Advertisers can expect a smooth delivery of continuous improvements and a regular drop of new features as we keep pushing the platform forward,” she said. The ad stack—the collection of software and tools used to manage and deliver advertising—is intended to allow X to deploy updates more quickly.

The integration of artificial intelligence into advertising systems aligns with broader industry trends. According to a report by The New York Times, industry peers Google and Meta have experienced a digital ad boom, as AI has contributed to revenue growth in ad businesses across the tech industry. The report noted that AI systems have helped automate various aspects of marketing, including ad creation, targeting, and measurement, which has lowered the barrier for smaller businesses.

Why it matters

X is attempting to revitalize its advertising business by integrating xAI technology into a rebuilt ad platform, aiming to improve targeting and campaign performance.