Elon Musk: 'we’re bringing back vine, but in AI form'

Elon Musk has a knack for stirring up social media—and now he’s teasing the return of a once-popular video app.

On Thursday morning, the Tesla (TSLA) CEO posted on X: “We’re bringing back Vine, but in AI form.” The eight-word post, lacking any further detail, quickly sparked speculation and thousands of interactions. It may have also influenced the price swings of the memecoin Vine (VINEUSD).

What “AI form” means remains unclear, as does Musk’s actual plan for Vine, the six-second video app that shut down in January 2017. X did not respond to requests for comment from Investopedia.

Twitter, then owned by Jack Dorsey, had acquired Vine in 2012 for a reported $30 million. Despite early promise and a peak user base exceeding 200 million, Vine struggled against rising competitors like Instagram and Snapchat. Twitter pulled the plug in 2016 amid company restructuring.

“We didn’t build the right features in time,” Vine co-founder Rus Yusupov said in 2022, adding that the platform also “didn’t help creators monetize.”

Musk has hinted at a Vine revival before. Shortly after acquiring Twitter in 2022, he ran a “Bring back Vine?” poll that drew strong support. Axios later reported his team was exploring a Vine reboot, and earlier this year Musk again suggested a revival as a potential TikTok ban loomed.

If revived, Vine would re-enter a crowded field dominated by TikTok, Meta’s (META) Reels, and other short-form video platforms.