Elon Musk has threatened to sue Microsoft for claiming that it “trained using Twitter data illegally.” His statement was in response to a Tweet noting that Microsoft’s advertising platform had announced that it would no longer support Twitter. This is due to Twitter’s recent changes that require payment to access their API.
Musk’s threats are vague, but appear to be about OpenAI using Twitter to train the large-language model that is behind products such as ChatGPT. OpenAI is obviously not Microsoft. However, it has recently received a substantial investment from the company which is building AI into products like Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365.
Musk has not yet confirmed whether he will sue Microsoft, despite his threats. He has taken legal actions that have never been carried out, such as against @ElonJet’s creator.
Microsoft declined to make a comment. Twitter’s Press Email responded with a poop-emoji to a request for comment.
Microsoft announced in a message at the top of its support page that it would “no long support Twitter” as of April 25, 2023. This means companies will no longer be able to use Microsoft’s platform for managing their tweets and engagement. The timeline for Twitter to place its API (application program interface) behind a paid-for is also in line with this.
Twitter’s new pricing structure could see large companies such as Microsoft paying as much as 42,000 dollars per month for access to Twitter API. Some smaller developers, such as Tapbots and Tweetbot creator Tapbots have already abandoned the platform due to its new pricing structure.
What’s the point of this spat?
Microsoft has taken this step after twitter began charging companies for data that it collects about its users. This is crucial for targeted advertising.
Musk’s platform, which costs a minimum $100 per month, claims to help businesses “understand and track the conversations and perceptions around your brand”.
Twitter used to offer free access to the API service.
Musk is also looking to increase the amount of money he receives from companies.
Mike Rhodes is the CEO and founder at ConsultMyApp. He said that Twitter has a large amount of data and Musk appears to be trying to use this to improve his advertising.
The social platform’s revenue from advertising has dropped off a cliff ever since he became the CEO.”
Musk has made several dire predictions about Twitter’s financial situation since his takeover of the company in October last year for $44bn. He claimed that the company could face bankruptcy.
Later, he said that the company’s financial situation had stabilized thanks to thousands of layoffs.
