Virginia startup launches new platform called Twitter.now after court hints at abandoned rights

Operation Bluebird, a startup located in Virginia, has rolled out a new social networking site named Twitter.now. Co-founder Stephen Coates told reporters that the company, backed by investors, has been preparing the product for months and will no longer wait to launch. The initiative builds on the belief that Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition and rebranding of Twitter to X left the original brand vulnerable.

X Corporation sued Operation Bluebird last year, seeking to block the launch, but an April 2026 hearing resulted in a tentative ruling that X may have abandoned its claim to the Twitter brand. Although a formal written order is pending, Coates, who also acts as the platform’s general counsel, considers the judge’s remarks a green light. The new service is deliberately distancing itself from the previous incarnation of Twitter.