Elon Musk changes his X name to ‘Gorklon Rust’: What does it mean?

Tech billionaire Elon Musk changed his display name on X to “Gorklon Rust” on Sunday, sparking curiosity.

What could it mean?

The name “Gorklon Rust” appears to be a blend of several references. “Grok” is the name of the AI chatbot developed by Musk's xAI, while “Rust” could be in reference to the Rust programming language, which is reportedly part of xAI’s tech stack.

“Gorklon Rust” is also linked to a meme coin on the Solana blockchain, currently being traded on platforms like PumpSwap, Raydium, and Meteora.

This isn't the first time Elon Musk has changed his name on X. In February, the 53-year-old Tesla CEO briefly went by Harry Bolz.

A few months earlier, in December, he adopted the name Kekius Maximus. Netizens speculated Kekius Maximus was a mash-up of Pepe the Frog (a popular internet meme) and Maximus Decimus Meridius, the character played by Russell Crowe in Gladiator. At the time, Musk’s profile picture featured an image of Pepe the Frog dressed in golden armor and holding a video game controller.

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The name change comes just a day after Elon Musk announced a major overhaul of X’s recommendation algorithm.

On Saturday, Musk revealed that the social media platform will now integrate artificial intelligence to enhance user experience. He said a lightweight version of Grok will be embedded into X’s recommendation system.

“The 𝕏 recommendation algorithm is being replaced with a lightweight version of @Grok, so will soon be dramatically better!” Musk said. “You should notice some improvement already."

The Tesla CEO also responded to user concerns around engagement farming.

“Engagement farming and verification impersonation are some issues affecting the quality of the experience on this platform,” a user said.

Musk replied by saying, “You should be seeing significant improvement there.”