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Elon Musk's X is launching a $1 million prize for the best long-form article, aiming to boost high-impact content and writing on the platform. This initiative, part of X's 2026 growth strategy, encourages creators to produce in-depth pieces that shape conversations and break news. The move follows the introduction of X's 'Articles' feature, allowing for longer posts beyond traditional limits.
Elon Musk’s X is offering $1 million to the creator who wins the best long-form article contest. In a post shared on the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter), the Musk-owned company announced this new prize for the best article in its upcoming creator payout cycle to promote long-form content.
The post was also shared by the billionaire, who reposted the update from X's official creators account, which said the initiative aims to “recognise high-value, high-impact content that shapes conversation, breaks news, and moves culture.”The company is “doubling down on what creators on X do best: writing”, putting long articles as a central component of X's growth strategy in 2026. The top article will receive the $1 million award, while the winners will be announced on January 30, but the post did not share any further details on selection criteria or timelines.
What X wrote about the long-form article contest
In the post, the X Creators account wrote, “We’re trying something new: we’re giving $1 million to the Top Article of the next payout period. We're doubling down on what creators on 𝕏 do best: writing. In 2026, our goal is to recognise high-value, high-impact content that shapes conversation, breaks news and moves culture.”Resharing the post, Musk wrote: “$1M prize for the top 𝕏 article.”
This comes just months after X rolled out Articles, a feature that allows creators to publish long-form posts beyond the traditional character limit.
It also provides formatting options like headings, embedded media, and hyperlinks. The tool was first rolled out to Premium+ subscribers and select creators.This aligns with Musk's goal to make X an “everything app,” as announced when he bought X, a platform that combines media, payments, and publishing in one place.Since its launch, writers, analysts, and content creators have been utilising the Articles feature to write essays, investigations, and news analysis pieces within the app itself.
The feature will enable X to compete with blogs, Substack, and LinkedIn for written content while retaining user engagement on its platform.Musk has repeatedly stated that X is a "better alternative to traditional media" and that the platform could be used as a "real-time, user-driven newswire" instead of traditional news sources. Musk has stated that X is "the most accurate source of information about the world" and that "you are the media now," implying that posts and content on the platform are more reliable than traditional news sources.
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