Operation Bluebird, a Virginia-based startup seeking to revive the Twitter name and logo, has launched a new social media platform called Twitter.now.

Stephen Coates, co-founder of Operation Bluebird and former general counsel of Twitter, said the company decided to launch the platform after months of waiting for a ruling in its trademark dispute with X Corporation.

“We are a small company, we have investors, and we have a product,” Coates told Ars Technica on Wednesday.

“And we have waited months and months to launch, and we are not going to wait anymore.”

Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 and subsequently changed the company’s name to X, prompting Coates and his colleagues to argue that the former Twitter identity and intellectual property had been abandoned.

Operation Bluebird subsequently sought to claim the Twitter trademarks, but X Corporation sued the startup late last year and asked a federal court in Delaware to stop the launch of a new Twitter platform.

At a hearing in April 2026, Colm Connolly, US district court Judge, reportedly gave a tentative ruling suggesting that X may have abandoned intellectual property claims over the word “tweet” and the Twitter bird logo, and potentially the “Twitter” name.

The judge, however, has yet to issue a written order.

Coates said Operation Bluebird interpreted the judge’s comments as sufficient grounds to proceed with the launch.

“It’s our opinion that X has abandoned its rights on the Twitter and tweet trademarks,” he said.

‘TWITTER.NOW IS NOT X’

The startup has also sought to distinguish Twitter.now from Musk’s X, stating on its website that it is rebuilding the platform around trust and is “not X” and has no affiliation with X Corp.

Twitter.now currently has hundreds of users and retains features associated with the original Twitter, including replies and reposts.

The platform also includes an automated fact-checking feature called Vera, a Gemini-based “veracity engine” designed to analyse posts in real time.

Coates said the company’s goal is to create a social media platform that encourages free expression while reducing the spread of harmful or inaccurate content.

“Our first goal is to see if we can truly bring back a town square that’s safer and less harmful,” he said.

According to the publication, Josh Gerben, a Washington-based trademark attorney who has followed the case, said Operation Bluebird may have a “workable legal theory” for claiming that X abandoned the Twitter trademark, but warned that the dispute was far from settled.

“It was one thing to file the trademark application; now that they’ve launched, there will be another response from [X Corporation],” Gerben said.

He added that “they’ve really upped the ante now. It’s a really interesting escalation of the case”.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT TWITTER.NOW

Here are some of the features and policies on the platform:

• AI-powered fact-checking

Twitter.now runs posts through an artificial intelligence tool called Vera, which the company describes as a real-time “veracity engine”.

The tool is designed to analyse posts and provide users with information about the accuracy or trustworthiness of claims.

• Trust Dial

The platform has a feature called the “Trust Dial”, which allows users to determine the level of trust they require from content appearing in their feeds.

The company says the feature is intended to give users greater control over what they see rather than relying entirely on an algorithm to determine their feed.

• Freedom of speech, not freedom of reach

Twitter.now says users are free to express their views, but that does not guarantee that every post will receive maximum visibility.

Content considered spammy, manipulative, harassing or deliberately misleading can have its reach reduced under the platform’s policies.

• Paid access

The platform is using a paid early-access model.

Users can pay $20 to become “Founders,” while those contributing $40 or more can become “Fighters”.

The company says the model is designed partly to discourage bots and reduce dependence on advertising.

• No sale of user data

Twitter.now says it will not sell users’ data to strangers.

The platform’s privacy policies say users should have greater control over their information and how it is used.

• Rules apply to everyone

The platform’s “Birdhouse Constitution” says its rules apply regardless of a user’s popularity, wealth, political position or number of followers.

It prohibits threats, targeted harassment, doxxing, stalking and incitement, among other forms of harmful behaviour.

 • It looks like the old Twitter

Despite the new policies and features, Twitter.now retains several elements familiar to users of the original Twitter, including replies and reposts.

The startup says it is rebuilding the service around what it describes as trust, rather than copying Elon Musk’s X.

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