Social media and networking service Twitter removed its iconic blue bird and adopted a new stylization of the letter "X" as its official logo late on Sunday.

Its largest shareholder Elon Musk also updated his profile picture to the new Twitter logo, with the name change catching many users by surprise.

Musk tweeted that the domain name of 'x.com' now redirected to 'twitter.com', adding that the company will "bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds." The move came after he announced the change over the weekend.

After taking over control of Twitter last year, Musk said he would turn Twitter into "X, the everything app." In April, Twitter changed its legal name from Twitter Inc. to X Corp.

The new name appears to be part of a plan to try and make Twitter something much bigger than a micro-blogging app, along the lines of China's WeChat app which offers a wide range of services including mobile payments.

The company's CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted that X will be characterized by unlimited interactivity, centered in audio, video, messaging, payment/banking and create a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities.

Many of Musk's business ventures involve the letter X - including his company SpaceX, the Tesla Model X vehicle, and his recently launched AI startup called xAI.