Technical difficulties continue to plague the livestream feature on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after a live video with the company’s owner, Elon Musk, froze as the billionaire visited Eagle Pass at the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Thursday, Musk was attempting to report live from the scene at the border while donning sunglasses and a large, black cowboy hat.
“They are being overwhelmed by unprecedented numbers – just hit an all-time high and still growing,” Musk said of the migrants ahead of his trip. “Am going to visit Eagle Pass later this week to see what’s going on for myself.”
The video lasted about four minutes before the stream completely froze with about five million X users tuned in.
Went to the Eagle Pass border crossing to see what’s really going on pic.twitter.com/ADYY2XvAKT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2023
“I was a bit worried so many people might go on it that it crashes,” Musk said in the short clip.
According to New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, Musk then frantically sent a three-word email to all employees at X that read: “Please fix this.”
Elon Musk went to the Texas-Mexico border to do a livestream about immigration. The video had a few technical difficulties and then eventually froze.
A few minutes ago, Musk sent a three-word company-wide email: “Please fix this.” pic.twitter.com/kPKfHj7bCW
— Ryan Mac ? (@RMac18) September 28, 2023
Musk restarted the livestream a few minutes later; it ran for about 13 minutes.
X’s live-streaming capabilities haven’t worked well in the past. When testing Twitter’s old technology in May on his profile, even Musk commented on the low quality and pixelation.
“We’re just testing the live video feature so we can see if it works, and we can modify it accordingly,” he said during the stream at the time.
X did not immediately respond to Entepreneur’s request for comment.
