Twitter, the social media platform that once set the standard for real-time online conversation, has moved back to the center of a legal and technical struggle after a startup introduced a service built to revive the Twitter name. Operation Bluebird, a company based in Virginia, has launched Twitter.now, which it describes as a reimagined version of the original Twitter centered on trust, free expression, and user control.

The debut arrives while the startup is locked in a trademark dispute with X Corporation, the entity formed when Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 and renamed it X.

Twitter was founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams. It quickly became a go-to platform for short, real-time posts and played a key role in fostering global online conversations in public spaces. Over the years, the service gained significance as a venue for breaking news, political debates, entertainment, and public discourse, and its bluebird logo and the term “tweet” became synonymous with social media itself.

Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. After the acquisition, he changed the company's name to X and altered much of the platform's visual identity, including the iconic bird branding.

Operation Bluebird argues that X's abandonment of the Twitter brand could allow it to secure rights to the trademarks. The company was founded by individuals with connections to the early Twitter ecosystem, including Stephen Coates, a former general counsel at the company.

The startup initiated efforts to secure the Twitter trademarks on the argument that X had abandoned its rights to the legacy brand. The situation intensified in late 2025, when X Corporation filed a lawsuit against the startup aiming to prevent it from launching a new social media platform under the original name. That legal fight matters because the name, logo, and associated shorthand remain closely tied to how many users remember the service, even as the company behind it has shifted identity.

In April 2026, a hearing in a US federal court produced remarks that appeared encouraging for Operation Bluebird. Judge Colm Connolly suggested that X might have abandoned its intellectual property claims regarding terms like “tweet,” the bird logo, and potentially the name itself. However, the judge has not yet issued a written order to resolve the issue.

Faced with prolonged uncertainty, the startup decided to move forward with its launch, according to Coates, a representative from Operation Bluebird.

“We are a small company, we have investors, and we have a product,” Coates explained to Ars Technica, emphasising the lengthy wait the company had already endured for the court proceedings to advance.

Despite the ongoing legal dispute, Operation Bluebird believes its interpretation of the court's comments gives it enough leeway to proceed with the launch.

Twitter.now is positioned not simply as a revamped version of old Twitter but as a social network focused on a “trust first” philosophy. It will offer tools that let users control what shows up in their feeds.

One feature, called Vera, is an AI system that checks the truthfulness of claims in posts without judging the person making them. Another feature, Trust Dial, lets users decide how much low-trust content they want to see by reducing its visibility instead of deleting it. The platform emphasises “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.” In addition, it will reintroduce familiar features from the original app, such as replies and reposts.

Twitter.now is using a paid early-access model. Users can pay $20 to become Founders, which grants them early access and a special badge, while those contributing $40 or more are designated Fighters and receive an extra badge. The company says the early-access approach is intended to prevent bots and to support both development and the legal efforts related to the original brand. The new company also promises not to sell user data and aims to protect user privacy.

The startup faces two main challenges: creating a successful social network and fighting for the rights to a brand still associated with a major technology company. The legal dispute with X Corporation over the Twitter trademark is ongoing, meaning the brand has not been officially returned.

Twitter.now is seeking to establish itself as a new platform built on the Twitter identity that its founders believe was neglected when Musk rebranded the service as X. Whether the company can reclaim the brand in court, attract enough users, and successfully differentiate itself from X remains to be seen.