Twitter to open-source its recommendation algorithm

On March 31, 2023, Twitter will open-source the code behind its recommendation algorithm that shapes the social network’s homepage.

Twitter will open source all code used to recommend tweets on March 31st

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 17, 2023

According to Twitter chief Elon Musk, the algorithm is so complex that even inside the company it is not understood. He warned that people would find “a lot of nonsense” in it, but the businessman promised to fix them as they are uncovered.

Musk also announced the development of a simplified approach to maintaining engaging tweets. This algorithm will also be open.

“Ensuring transparency of the code may initially be incredibly embarrassing, but it should lead to rapid improvements in the quality of the recommendations. Most importantly, we hope to earn your trust,” wrote Musk.

Releasing the source code of the recommendation algorithm was one of the billionaire’s main promises ahead of the Twitter acquisition. In May 2022 he accused the tweet-ranking system of manipulating users.

In October 2022, Musk closed the deal to acquire Twitter for $44 billion.

In February 2023, the billionaire promised to open-source the source code of the recommendation algorithm in the near future.