{
  "id": 9347140,
  "title": "Elon Musk’s X launches X Numbers: Here's how it works",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/elon-musks-x-launches-x-numbers-heres-how-it-works",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-23T14:17:55.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Economic Times Tech",
    "slug": "economic-times-tech",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/elon-musks-x-launches-x-numbers-heres-how-it-works/articleshow/134440532.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Elon Musk's X platform has introduced a new feature called X Numbers, which allows users to share a secret eight-digit code for contact on XChat without revealing personal phone numbers or needing to follow each other. This development follows Meta's WhatsApp, which recently launched username features that let users find people using their unique names instead of phone numbers.\n\nX Numbers function as private codes that users can create and share, enabling people to message or call them on XChat even if they do not follow the sender. The feature is optional, and X Numbers can be used for both audio and video calls, depending on the recipient's settings. Messages sent through the code go directly to the user's main chat inbox rather than the message requests section.\n\nIn a post explaining the feature, X explained that the X Number is not a phone number but an additional method for people to reach someone. If a person's inbox already accepts message requests from non-followers, there's no need for users to know someone's X Number. However, if a user has a closed inbox, people they do not follow cannot message them unless they enter the X Number, and this applies only if the X Number is enabled.\n\nPeople who follow each other, have previously chatted, or are members of the same Premium Business or Premium Organization can still reach each other without an X Number. Direct Messages (DMs) on X are not open by default, a policy implemented earlier in the year. Users can only receive unsolicited DMs from someone if they follow them (or if they are followed), enable the \"open DMs\" setting, or receive a message request from a non-follower (which lands in a separate \"requests\" folder until the user approves it).",
  "summary": "This comes months after Meta's WhatsApp introduced a username feature that lets users find people in the app by their unique names instead of their phone numbers. WhatsApp, which says it has more than 3 billion users globally, has until now allowed anyone with a user's phone number to contact them.",
  "key_points": [
    "X Numbers allow secret eight-digit codes for contact on XChat.",
    "Codes enable messaging or calling without following users.",
    "Feature optional, works for audio/video calls."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}