The announcement from Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal of the highly unusual internal AMA — which stands for "ask me anything" — session was an effort to assuage anxious workers, who in recent days have expressed worries that the firebrand Musk could inflict damage to the company's culture, as well as make it harder for people to do their jobs.

"We say that Twitter is what's happening and what people are talking about right now. Often, we [at] Twitter are what's happening and what people are talking about. That has certainly been the case this week," Agrawal wrote in a companywide email Thursday, inviting staff to the AMA. "Following our board announcement, many of you have had different types of questions about Elon Musk, and I want to welcome you to ask those questions to him."

Town halls where employees can ask direct, pointed questions of senior leadership are a long-standing Silicon Valley tradition and take place regularly at Facebook, Google and Twitter.