A brightly flashing gigantic “X” sign atop the San Francisco headquarters of the Elon Musk-owned company was removed abruptly just three days after it was installed. The move comes after San Francisco city launched an investigation into building code violations.
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said on July 31 that it received 24 complaints about the giant X's structural safety and intrusive lights over the weekend.
The company, rebranded as X, had removed the Twitter sign and iconic blue bird logo from the building last week. Initially, the work was abruptly paused as the firm failed to secure necessary permits and the “er” at the end of “Twitter” remained on display for a while. Police said they hadn't taped off the sidewalk to keep pedestrians safe if anything fell.
“This morning, building inspectors observed the structure being dismantled. The property owner will be assessed fees for the unpermitted installation of the illuminated structure,” a spokesperson from the city department of building inspection said by email accessed by Reuters.
However, X said the removal was voluntary, according to the news agency.
In April, Musk got the letter ‘w’ removed from the ‘Twitter’ sign installed outside the headquarters, making the logo read as 'Titter'. Musk had clarified back then that his firm was legally required to keep the ‘w’ on. Hence, instead of completely removing the letter from the building, Musk got the blue ‘w’ painted over in white that matches the background colour.
“Our landlord at SF HQ says we’re legally required to keep sign as Twitter & cannot remove ‘w’, so we painted it background color. Problem solved!” Musk wrote on Twitter back then. In another post, he joked, “They tried to muffle our titter.”
However this is not the first time that Musk's company is facing the wrath of San Francisco city. In December 2022, the city's building inspection department responded to complaints about Musk violating zoning regulations by converting rooms in the headquarters into “hotel room” and making employees sleep in their offices overnight.
Responding to the allegations, Musk slammed the city, saying it was attacking companies for allowing "tired employees" to rest.
