- by Annabelle Liang
- Business reporter
image source, Getty Images
Twitter chief Elon Musk has threatened to sue Microsoft because he accused the tech giant of using data from his company for social media without permission.
“They trained illegally using Twitter data. At the time of the lawsuit,” the billionaire said he said in a tweet.
Mr. Musk was responding to Microsoft’s plan to remove Twitter from its corporate advertising platform.
He provided no further details or evidence to support the claim.
Microsoft declined to comment when contacted by the BBC on Thursday.
Earlier, the company He said in notice that its ad platform “will no longer support Twitter” as of Tuesday, April 25.
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As a result, ad buyers will not be able to access their Twitter accounts through Microsoft’s social management tool.
“Other social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn will continue,” Microsoft said.
The press email on Twitter responded to a query with a poop emoji.
In a separate tweetIn the discussion about the social media platform’s data, Musk said he’s “open to ideas.”
“But shredding and demonetizing the Twitter database (removing ads) and then selling our data to others is not a viable solution,” he added.
In February, Twitter began charging for data it collects from “hundreds of millions” of users, with a basic plan starting at $100 per month.
Since buying Twitter for $44bn (£35.4bn) in October, Musk has cut its workforce by around 80 per cent and moved to boost the company’s finances with measures including charging users for “blue tick” verification.
In recent months, major companies including iPhone maker Apple have reportedly stopped advertising on the platform due to concerns about how content on the site is moderated.
In November, Musk said Twitter had seen a “massive” drop in revenue and blamed activists for putting pressure on advertisers.
Speaking to the BBC last week, he said Twitter had only months left when he took over. He also said that “almost all of our advertisers have either returned or said they will return” to Twitter.
Musk added that Twitter could be profitable by the second quarter of 2023, and he would be willing to sell the company if the right person came along.
Watch: Elon Musk’s Unexpected BBC Interview…in 90 Seconds
“Infuriatingly humble alcohol fanatic. Unapologetic beer practitioner. Analyst.”