Zuckerberg says Threads, Instagram's new Twitter-like app, launched with 5 million users; Elon Musk responds

Facebook parent Meta Platforms launch its new social media site "Threads" on Wednesday, and it swiftly took off with more than 5 million sign-ups within just a few hours of its launch, according to its CEO.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrated the platform’s launch, which came Wednesday evening in the U.S. with a new thread on the platform, saying: "Just passed 5 million sign ups in the first four hours…" Hours earlier, Zuckerberg said the app had gained 2 million sign-ups in the first two hours from its release.

Zuckerberg has embraced the idea that Meta’s new Twitter-like app would directly compete with Elon Musk's platform and the idea even prompted the tech CEOs to say they would settle their differences in a cage match.

Musk responded to the platform’s launch in several posts on his own platform, tweeting: "It is infinitely preferable to be attacked by strangers on Twitter, than indulge in the false happiness of hide-the-pain Instagram."

"Let’s do this. Welcome to Threads," Zuckerberg posted on the app, welcoming new users.