Elon Musk's X is making another attempt to win back advertisers, unveiling a rebuilt, AI-powered advertising platform that began rolling out on Thursday. The tech company initially struggled to grow ad revenue during the early years of Musk's leadership, prompting a shift in focus toward alternative revenue streams like artificial intelligence and subscriptions. However, recent projections from eMarketer suggest that X's advertising business is starting to recover, with estimated ad revenue reaching $2.26 billion in 2025 and climbing to $2.46 billion in 2026. While these figures are still half of what Twitter's ad business generated in 2021, they indicate a positive trend. Now, X hopes to accelerate this momentum with its new ad platform.

According to X, the company has begun a "phased rollout" of the platform, which it says features more modern "retrieval and ranking systems" powered by AI. These updates are designed to make it easier for marketers to create targeted campaigns they can control. AI will enhance these campaigns by delivering better results, more relevant ad placements, and precise targeting, X claims.

"Very few companies would have the ambition and technical courage to completely rebuild their entire advertising platform in such a short timeframe. This is classic X and xAI - bold, fast, and focused on building something substantially better for advertisers," said Monique Pintarelli, head of global advertising at xAI, in a statement posted on X. "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."

It’s no surprise that rebuilding X's ad platform became a priority after the company merged with Musk's xAI last year. AI has contributed to revenue growth in advertising businesses across the tech industry, as this week's earnings reports have shown. Google, Meta, and other major players have been enjoying a "digital ad boom," according to a recent report from The New York Times, as AI systems help automate various aspects of marketing—from ad creation and targeting to measurement. This has also lowered the barrier for smaller businesses, giving them access to the same tools previously reserved for corporate giants.