USA:   Is Elon Musk about to set the caged blue bird free by open-sourcing Twitter's algorithm? That is certainly on the cards, based on a recent tweet of his. Twitter's recommendation algorithm could be revealed as early as next week.

The move may put an end to calls from the broader open-source community to open-source the microblogging algorithm.

If Musk wasn't joking about open-sourcing Twitter's algorithm, the decision could pave the way for the microblogging platform to explore new avenues. For starters, it may draw attention away from Musk's decision to boost his own tweets.

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It will also allow Twitter to directly compete with open-source alternatives like Mastodon and Nostr. Above all, Musk may be able to reclaim the support of all those who have left Twitter.

Musk made the announcement about open-sourcing Twitter's algorithm in response to a user who requested that he "open source it." "Be prepared to be disappointed at first when our algorithm is made open source next week," the billionaire said. The user was responding to the CEO's tweet, which referred to Twitter as the "world's largest non-profit organisation."

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Musk has advocated for the open-sourcing of Twitter's algorithm. Even before he became the company's CEO. He held a poll in March 2022, asking Twitterati whether the Twitter algorithm should be open source or not. The overwhelming majority voted "yes" at the time. He has also clashed with former CEO Jack Dorsey on the subject.

Musk said to Dorsey last year, "You are being manipulated by the algorithm in ways you don't realise." He went on to say that the algorithm "inadvertently" manipulates/amplifies viewpoints without the user's knowledge by attempting to predict what the user might want to read. "To solve both trust and efficacy, open source is the way to go," Musk concluded.

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Dorsey also favours making Twitter's algorithm open source. He has previously expressed regret about turning Twitter into a corporation. Twitter, he claims, should have been a verifiable and open protocol. Musk and Dorsey have discussed the same idea. Twitter should be built on a "open source protocol supported by a foundation," he believes.