Well folks, it seems X is taking the “premium” in Premium+ quite literally. Right before Christmas, the platform announced a price hike to its Premium+ subscription tier by 30%. 

While Americans are clutching onto their digital pearls with the price hike reaching $22, international users face even steeper hikes with Canadians, for example, now paying $29 per month. 

Current subscribers get to keep their existing rates until January 20th, after which they’ll face the classic social media dilemma: pay up for peace and quiet, or embrace the chaos of the $3 basic tier. 

But peek behind the digital curtain, and you’ll realize that this price increase isn’t just about X squeezing more dollars from its loyal users; it is less about subscription revenue and more about funding X’s ambitious AI dreams. 

They’ve just poured $12 billion into a massive AI data center dubbed “Colossus” (nothing ominous about that name at all), putting them in the ring with tech heavyweight champions Meta and Google. The standalone Grok chatbot app, improved image generation, and a new creator payment model based on engagement rather than ad views are just the opening moves.

For now, X’s vision seems clear: social media as the foundation for an AI-powered future. Whether users will stick around for this transformation—especially at higher prices—remains to be seen.

You can read more here.