Elon Musk teases new threat for billions of Gmail users with ‘Xmail’ rival
Musk has hinted at a ‘rethinking’ of traditional email
Google has long remained at the top of the email food chain with ‘Gmail’, as it currently holds around 1,800,000 active monthly users that find the service an essential part of their work and personal lives.
Of course, there are other services – most notably Microsoft’s Outlook as well – but many opt to stay within the confines of Gmail out of preference, ease, and perhaps a bit of consistency too.
Some have suggested that they’d be willing to drop the years they’d spent with Google’s electronic mailbox for an Elon Musk-led competitor, and the tech billionaire seems to think he’s ready to enter another industry.
X user Nia Owji posted that “having an @x.com email address is the only thing that can stop me from using Gmail.” Musk shortly quoted this statement, declaring:
“Interesting. We need to rethink how messaging, including email, works overall.” – Elon Musk @elonmusk
While this is not a direct statement of intent, it does certainly seem to suggest that the Tesla owner is willing to step into the world of email and come up with his own ‘ideal’ platform to ‘change’ the space.
He’s certainly familiar with email, having exchanged some rather scathing remarks with the Twitter team prior to his $44 billion purchase, and you have to wonder whether his time with the social media platform has informed his ideas on messaging further – although he might not want to sink another hefty investment so soon.
This is far from the first time that Musk has hinted at a move into the email space either, as it was only back in February 2024 that he replied “It’s coming” to the suggestion of an ‘Xmail’.
This was especially in light of false news that Gmail was shutting down, and it seemed to some that Musk was willing to quickly fill the space that Google was allegedly vacating.
Gmail certainly isn’t backing down any time soon though, having recently introduced much-requested features to help you protect your online identity, and it might take a lot to draw away a loyal fanbase.
This is shown no better than on the r/Gmail subreddit, in which users push back against the theorized idea of a Musk-owned email platform.
Many would struggle to depart from the Gmail they know and love (Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“To be worth even considering, Xmail would have to compete on a wide range of services,” explains one commenter, “Gmail’s spam filter is world class’ you can use it to handle emails for various domains; it has a number of superb extentions…
I strongly doubt that Xmail would be a serious competitor any time soon. One day, perhaps, but not yet.”
Another points out the almost redundant need for a ‘rethinking’ of email: “I’m not interested,” they outline, “email is a utility service like the light switch on the wall. I just want it to work and be dependable.”
Whether Musk’s plans come to fruition are still yet to be seen – as is the case for many of his ideas that initially form as posts on X. It could certainly pose as a threat within the email industry though, yet you can only wonder what he’d have to do to convince most to make the jump.
