A massive flashing ‘X’ sign was put on top of the building formerly known as Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Friday without city approval, prompting an investigation by local authorities.
According to the Associated Press, the city launched an investigation into the sign last week, alleging that the company failed to secure the permits required to follow design and safety regulations.
According to Patrick Hannan, a spokeswoman for the Department of structure Inspection, any replacement signage requires a permit to maintain “consistency with the historic nature of the building” and to ensure the signage is securely fastened.
According to Hannan, putting a sign on top of a building also necessitates a permit.
On Monday, San Francisco police halted workmen from removing the platform’s bird logo from the building’s exterior, claiming they hadn’t closed the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if any portion of the sign or other materials dropped.
The update follows Elon Musk’s efforts to rebrand the social networking site as X, which he announced earlier this month.
Where is the Twitter headquarters?
The “X” offices are located in downtown San Francisco, just a few blocks from City Hall.
As social media users have pointed out, the headquarters is immediately across the street from a residential structure.
Videos of the sign show it flashing brightly and being visible from the street below.
What is ‘X’?
Musk transformed Twitter’s bird emblem to a “X” after purchasing the platform formerly known as Twitter for $44 billion last year. The “X” appeared at the top of the desktop version of Twitter on Monday.
Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino stated in a series of postings regarding the platform rebranding that X will transform the “global town square.”
“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,” she said. “X, powered by AI, will connect us all in ways we can only begin to imagine.”
Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla, has frequently employed the letter X in his personal and business lives. He is the CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., also known as SpaceX. In the 1990s, he also launched X.com, which later became PayPal.
Musk’s youngster is also known by the moniker “X.”
