[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Elon Musk says he will roll out X Money, seen as central to an "everything app" strategy, as a limited external beta within 1 to 2 months.

Cointelegraph, a blockchain outlet, reported on Feb. 11 that Musk said at a meeting of his artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI that X Money is currently operating internally in a private beta. He said he plans to run a limited external beta within 1 to 2 months and then expand it to X (formerly Twitter) users worldwide.

He also said X Money aims to become a place where all money gathers and the centre of all financial transactions. He said it will be a "game changer," showing strong confidence.

X Money is planned to be integrated directly into social media platform X and offer social networking, messaging, content and financial services in one place. Musk said he also wants to increase reasons to use X, including communication, Grok and X Money, so people can handle all of life within the X app. He mentioned that X has secured 1 billion users by installations, but its monthly user count averages about 600 million.

Strengthening payment functions is also described as a task Musk has pursued since shortly after he acquired Twitter in 2022. He co-founded online bank X.com in 1999, and that business later led to PayPal.

Still, whether crypto will be integrated remains uncertain. As X has 추진해 온 만큼, early stages are expected to focus on fiat currencies, according to an observation, given X has pursued X Money in partnership with global payments technology company Visa.

Musk also stressed expanding xAI's computing. Introducing the AI data centre "Macroharder" being built in Memphis, Tennessee, he said he plans to add 220,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) by expanding existing facilities. He said large-scale training computing is essential to make the best model, signalling he will continue investing in AI development.

The industry is watching whether the external beta of X Money can increase time spent across the broader X ecosystem beyond payment functions. Securing regulations and licences, service stability and division of roles with existing payment providers are expected to be key issues during a global rollout. Market attention is focused on whether Musk's "everything app" plan can be realised around payments and AI.

Since xAI was formed just 30 months ago, the small and talented team has made remarkable progress. The future has never looked more exciting! pic.twitter.com/QZ73H2mpBj