City officials in San Francisco have opened an investigation into the giant “X” sign that Elon Musk installed on top of his media company’s downtown headquarters.
San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection currently lists two active complaints at 1355 Market Street, one of them being for an
unpermitted structure on the roof. The complaints were filed on July 28, and the Department subsequently issued a notice of violation (NOV) for each complaint.
According to the complaint against the “X” sign, a city building inspector tried to gain access to the rooftop sign on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, X representatives declined to provide access for the inspector, allegedly saying that the sign “is a temporary lighted sign for an event.”
In response, the inspector told the company representatives that the NOV “requires the structure to be remove [sic] with a building permit or legalize.”
The same city building inspector tried again on Saturday, but “upon arrival access was denied again by tenant.”
Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Building Inspection, told The San Francisco Standard on Friday that an
investigation was underway.
“A building permit is required to make sure the sign is structurally sound and installed safely,” Mr. Hannan said. “Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation.”
On Saturday, Mr. Musk
shared a 19-second clip showing the new flashing “X” with the words “Our HQ in San Francisco tonight.”
It is unclear if Mr. Musk’s company would face any penalty. According to the city’s website, a
notice of violation can incur permit and investigation fees, at a minimum, to “reimburse the department for the cost of the investigation and enforcement.”
Mr. Musk, who purchased the social media giant for $44 billion in October last year, has renamed Twitter’s corporate name X Corp. and has replaced the social media company’s iconic blue bird logo with a single, stylized letter X.
After Twitter’s name change, Mr. Musk explained that rebranding was just a step toward turning the social media platform into what he’s called an “
everything app.”
X CEO Linda Yaccarino explained how the app could deliver “everything” on July 23.
“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity—centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking—creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities,” Ms. Yaccarino
wrote on X. “There’s absolutely no limit to this transformation. X will be the platform that can deliver, well….everything.”
Separately on July 29, Mr. Musk wrote on his social media platform that his company is here to stay in San Francisco.
“Many have offered rich incentives for X (fka Twitter) to move its HQ out of San Francisco. Moreover, the city is in a doom spiral with one company after another left or leaving. Therefore, they expect X will move too,” Mr. Musk wrote. “
We will not.”
He added: “You only know who your real friends are when the chips are down. San Francisco, beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to X for comment.
