This should be interesting.
As part of its renewed effort to get more creators posting long-form content to the app, X has announced that it will pay out a million dollars to the author of the most popular X article posted during the current payout period, which ends on January 30th.
As per X:
“We’re doubling down on what creators on 𝕏 do best: writing. In 2026, our goal is to recognize high-value, high-impact content that shapes conversation, breaks news and moves culture.”
X says that the winning article must be original, be at least 1,000 words in length, and will be judged “primarily on Verified Home Timeline impressions.”
Also, only U.S. users are eligible.
You also, of course, have to be an X Premium subscriber, because X’s long-form publishing option is only available to paying users, though X did recently expand articles to all X Premium subscribers, not just Premium+ customers.
Which, based on X’s Premium subscriber numbers, means that probably fewer than 300k users are eligible for the prize. And with a fraction of those users actually posting long-form content, your chances of becoming a millionaire are actually pretty good. I mean, way better odds than the lottery.
So how can you win?
Well, the key element to keep in mind here is that the primary criteria is verified impressions, or how many times your long-form article is shown to paying X users. And because the algorithm will show articles to users based on engagement, that means that you’ll need to write something that’ll resonate with X’s paying user base.
I know what you’re thinking, but looking at the actual X articles data, you may have to do a little more than just writing something that aligns with Elon’s favorite pet topics.
Maybe.
Looking at X articles engagement insights from last year, the top five best-performing articles on the platform were:
- A deep dive into alleged irregularities and accountability issues at the Pentagon, sparking discussions on government transparency.
- An in-depth exploration of global economic trends, fiscal policies, and investment strategies in a volatile market.
- A passionate fan perspective on Tesla’s innovations, leadership, and future in electric vehicles and tech.
- A humorous yet pointed satirical take on current events, blending comedy with social commentary.
- Another entry in Amuse’s series of satirical commentaries on politics and culture, contributing to their leading position.
So actually, publishing a post about how government regulation is bad, but Tesla is good, would probably be the best way to go, as many of you may have guessed.
Want an easy $1 million?
I would suggest writing an article about how Grok is now so great at stock market analysis and prediction that you can let it make your stock trading decisions for you, and how you’ve used this method to generate millions using your own cash.
Maybe it’s true, maybe not, but I guarantee it will hit all the key markers for X Premium users (especially if you also include a note about how you used the cash to buy a Cybertruck).
So, what’s X’s aim here?
Well, as I noted earlier in the month, X is very keen to get more long-form content flowing through its circuits, as a means to expand on its knowledge bank for its xAI projects. X obviously has a heap of short-form posts to feed into its system, but it also needs longer, more in-depth reporting, and it’s hoping that it can convince more journalists, in particular, to post more of their stuff to the app, in order to expand its insights stream.
Yet, at the same time, Elon continues to amplify his many, many personal gripes with “mainstream” journalists via his X account, which is the most followed single profile in the app, while his various changes to the platform have transformed what was once a key platform for journalists into a hostile environment, which very few will be looking to come back to anytime soon.
Sure, $1 million is a big carrot, but the need to appeal to paying X users is very much a complicating factor, which is unlikely to grab the attention of the intended target group.
But it will lead to an influx of long-form content, in the short-term at least, and it could help to raise interest in X posting to some degree. Whether this is a one-off prize or part of X’s longer-term push to make expand creator payouts is another factor that will play a part.
My guess would be that some partisan, AI-generated think piece will take out the prize at the end of the month, and that X will abandon the concept completely shortly after, once it finds out that Grok is actually the writer (expect Elon to sue the winner in order to recoup the prize money if this is the case).
X will then do what every other platform is doing, sign deals with publishers to feed in more long-form material, but for now, X is trying out another way to meet two key goals, in bringing more content to the app, and getting more in-depth writing to improve its AI outputs.
I suspect they’ll need to do a lot more to make X a more appealing home for quality long-form content, but maybe, throwing enough money at it will kickstart a snowball effect for X articles.
