Musk threatens Microsoft over Twitter data: ‘Lawsuit time’
Musk threatens to sue Microsoft for using Twitter data without permission.
They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.
He does not elaborate any further or provide evidence to support his claim.
They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2023
Trans advocates criticise Twitter policy change
Trans advocates criticise Elon Musk for quietly removing a Twitter policy designed to protect transgender people from harassment. The policy previously forbade users of the social media network from deliberately “misgendering” (referring to someone using pronouns that do not reflect their gender identity) or “deadnaming” (calling a transgender person by the name they were given at birth, rather than the name and gender they now identify with) trans users. An archived version of Twitter’s policy indicates that the rule was scrubbed on April 8 without announcement. GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis:
Twitter’s decision to covertly roll back its longtime policy is the latest example of just how unsafe the company is for users and advertisers alike.
Trans rights group Human Rights Campaign:
This policy change makes Twitter more unsafe for trans and non-binary users and paves the way for outright discrimination. Twitter has an obligation to protect people on the platform, not expose them to hate and vitriol.
This policy change makes Twitter more unsafe for trans and non-binary users and paves the way for outright discrimination.
Twitter has an obligation to protect people on the platform, not expose them to hate and vitriol. https://t.co/0nFvxLjBIQ
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) April 18, 2023
Yaccarino interviews Musk
0 0 Mark Devlin Mark Devlin2023-05-12 17:33:372023-05-12 17:44:04Yaccarino interviews Musk
Musk announces Starship blowtorch
Following Musk’s tweet about a “Mini Starship with flame,” SpaceX announces the pre-sale of a collectable, Starship-themed blowtorch. The $175 burner has a safety lock as well as a windproof, adjustable flame and is being marketed for things like melting cheese and lighting candles. As one advert puts it:
It’s collectible. It’s functional. And it burns, burns, burns. The Starship Torch.
Mini Starship with flame!https://t.co/VGKHyaikTd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023
CBC: Twitter’s response not ‘serious’
A spokesperson for CBC says Twitter’s labelling fo the corporation as “69% government funded” is not “serious.”
The real issue is that Twitter’s definition of government-funded media means open to editorial interference by government. As the Editor-in-Chief of CBC News has said the government has no — zero — involvement in our editorial content or journalism
Musk changes CBC label to ‘69% government funded’
In reponse to complaints from CBC, Musk changes the label on their account to say the corporation is ‘69% government funded’.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label
Canadian Broadcasting Corp said they’re “less than 70% government-funded”, so we corrected the label pic.twitter.com/lU1EWf76Zu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2023
Musk to build ‘TruthGPT’ AI platform
In an interview with Carlson, Musk says he is planning to build an alternative to ChatCPT, which he claims has been trained to lie. Musk says that OpenAI, which built ChatGPT, has now become a closed source, for-profit organization that’s far removed from the startup he helped found.
I’ve been thinking about AI since I was in college…I think I will create a third option, although I’m starting very late in the game…I’m going to start something which I call TruthGPT or a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe. I think this might be the best path to safety, in the sense that an AI that cares about understanding the universe is unlikely to annihilate humans because we are an interesting part of the universe.
Musk also says he supports the regulation of artificial intelligence.
AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production in the sense that it has the potential, however, small one may regard that probability, but it is not trivial; it has the potential of civilizational destruction
CBC pauses ‘Twitter activities’
CBC says it is pausing its activities on Twitter.
Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter. | Notre journalisme est impartial et indépendant. Prétendre le contraire est faux. C’est pourquoi nous suspendons nos activités sur @Twitter
Our journalism is impartial and independent. To suggest otherwise is untrue. That is why we are pausing our activities on @Twitter. | Notre journalisme est impartial et indépendant. Prétendre le contraire est faux. C’est pourquoi nous suspendons nos activités sur @Twitter.
— CBC/Radio-Canada (@CBCRadioCanada) April 17, 2023
Starship launch scrubbed
The first Starship launch is scrubbed, ten minutes before launch, due to a pressurant valve being frozen. The countdown continues as a ‘wet dress rehearsal’, to T minus 40 seconds. Another launch attempt may happen in the next 48 hours.
A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023
Starship launch rescheduled to Apr 20
SpaceX says it is targeting Thursday, April 20 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Starbase in Texas. The 62 minute launch window opens at 8:28 a.m. CT and closes at 9:30 a.m. CT.
Teams are working towards Thursday, April 20 for the first flight test of a fully integrated Starship and Super Heavy rocket → https://t.co/bG5tsCUanp pic.twitter.com/umcqhJCGai
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 17, 2023
Angry Tesla Shanghai workers take to social media over bonus cuts
Workers at Tesla’s Shanghai factory take to social media in an attempt to appeal to Musk after their supervisors informed them of upcoming cuts to their performance bonuses. The posts are appearing on Twitter as well as forums like Baidu Tieba, with some even containing appeals to Musk’s mother, Maye Musk. Two workers at the plant, where Tesla employs around 20,000, said they were informed by their supervisors over the weekend about a cut to their quarterly bonus payout, which is linked to the factory’s performance. The workers said Tesla supervisors mentioned a “safety incident” when they were asked about reasons for the cut.
Was alerted this weekend. Looking into it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 17, 2023
Musk: Starship launch ‘may not be successful’
Musk says expectations should remain low for the Starship system, and that his team is mainly looking to gather data about how the vehicle ascends to space and returns back to Earth.
I guess I would just like to set expectations… low…Success is not what should be expected. It’s just a very fundamentally difficult thing. Probably, tomorrow will not be successful… If we get far enough away from the launchpad before something goes wrong, I would consider that to be a success. Just don’t blow up the launchpad.
Starship is due to launch at 8am CST (2pm BST).
Launch attempt tomorrow pic.twitter.com/czFsQ53Xsa
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2023
Musk: US Government had access to Twitter DMs
In a trailer for his interview with Carlson, Musk says the US authorities had full access to everything that happened on Twitter, including users’ private messages . Everything that happened on the social network was monitored by “various government departments.”
Musk: The degree to which various government agencies had effectively full access to everything that was going on at Twitter blew my mind. I was not aware of that.
Carlson: Would that include people’s DMs?
Musk: Yes
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 16, 2023
Musk launches X.AI
Musk launches X.AI, an artificial intelligence company. The company, incorporated in Nevada in March, has Musk as its director and Jared Birchall, the director of Musk’s family office, listed as its secretary. Musk plans for the firm to compete with the Microsoft-backed OpenAI. Musk reportedly sought funding from SpaceX and Tesla investors to get the company started. The X.AI name matches the branding of the X Corp. name he has since assigned to Twitter, along with the ‘X’ label he’s applied to his vision of an “everything app.”
Musk: Subscriptions replacing Super Follows on Twitter
Musk says content creators on Twitter will now make money through Subscriptions rather than Super Follows.
Apply to offer your followers subscriptions of any material, from longform text to hours long video! Just tap on “Monetization” in settings.
But, the subscription program appears mostly unchanged from Super Follows, which Twitter originally introduced as a way for creators to charge for exclusive tweets. Creators can charge $2.99, $4.99 or $9.99 a month, with exclusive content including subscriber-only chats in Twitter Spaces and special badges for subscribers.
Musk also says Twitter will help promote creators’ content (he does not elaborate on how) and will not take a cut of the revenue for “the next 12 months.” Instead, creators will get all that remains after app store and payment processing fees: about 70 percent of their earnings from mobile and 92 percent from web-based subscriptions.
For the next 12 months, Twitter will keep none of the money.
You will receive whatever money we receive, so that’s 70% for subscriptions on iOS & Android (they charge 30%) and ~92% on web (could be better, depending on payment processor).
After first year, iOS & Android fees…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2023
Musk BBC interview
Musk is interviewed by James Clayton of the BBC, at Twitter HQ, in San Franscisco. The interview primarily covers Musk’s work at Twitter. Musk says that he only went through with the takeover because a judge was about to force him to make the purchase, but that he still felt that buying the company was the right thing to do. Operationally, he says that cuting the workforce has not been easy, but usage of the site is up and the ‘site works’, despite some glitches and outages. The firm is “roughly breaking even”, as most of its advertisers have returned. He said he would sell the company if the right person came along.
When asked about hateful content on the platform, Musk asks Clayton if he has seen any, to which Clayton replies that he hasn’t seen any, because he doesn’t use Twitter any more. Musk:
You say you’ve seen more hateful content, but you can’t name a single example. Even one…Then I say, sir, that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Musk also says he would change its newly-added label for the BBC’s account from “government funded media” to say it is “publicly funded” instead.
We’re trying to be accurate, I actually do have a lot of respect for the BBC. [This interview] is a good opportunity to ask some questions [and] to get some feedback on what we should be doing different
Taibbi quits Twitter citing Substack restrictions
Taibbi says he will no longer use Twitter, after the company decided to heavily restrict all links and tweets about Substack following that company’s announcement it would be launching Substack Notes, a short form social network and potential competitor to Twitter. The restrictions require Substack writers to sign a pledge not to criticize Musk or his companies. Taibbi had previously tweeted that he asked Musk personally why Substack was being limited on Twitter and didn’t receive a response. Musk unfollowed Taibbi on Twitter shortly after the journalist made his announcement. Taibbi:
Earlier this afternoon, I learned Substack links were being blocked on Twitter. Since being able to share my articles is a primary reason I use Twitter, I was alarmed and asked what was going on…It turns out Twitter is upset about the new Substack Notes feature, which they see as a hostile rival. When I asked how I was supposed to market my work, I was given the option of posting my articles on Twitter instead of Substack….This abrupt change is a reminder of why writers deserve a model that puts them in charge, that rewards great work with money, and that protects the free press and free speech. Their livelihoods should not be tied to platforms where they don’t own their relationship with their audience, and where the rules can change on a whim.
Chinese military wants 13,000 satellites to rival Starlink
Following the success of Musk’s SpaceX Starlink in the Ukraine War, Chinese military researchers want to deploy a national mega-constellation of almost 13,000 low-orbit satellites to emulate Starlink, while military scientists are pursuing research on how to “suppress” or even damage Starlink satellites in wartime scenarios.
Chinese reaserchers in an opaque state-backed project — referred to in China’s satellite industry as “GW” or “Guowang,” translated as “State Network” — have shared concerns in public research and privately with military officials that the project is lagging too far behind SpaceX’s Starlink and should be fast-tracked after the technology withstood practical tests in Ukraine.
The Starlink constellation has finally shown its military colors in the Russia-Ukraine conflict…The focus now is to accelerate the development of China’s own constellation … and explore defensive measures against Starlink-type foreign satellites
Musk reacts to Cash App founder’s murder
Musk offers his condolences, following the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee, who was found stabbed to death in his San Francisco apartment in the early morning hours of April 4, 2023. Musk also calls for stronger action regarding repeat violent offenders in SF.
Very sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately. Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders @BrookeJenkinsSF?
Very sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely assaulted.
Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.
Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders @BrookeJenkinsSF?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2023
Musk wants ‘powerful’ litigation team
0 CommentsMusk says it is important to create ‘powerful’ internal litigation team, to enable Tesla to go on the offense agaisnt short-sellers, certain law firms and corrupt regulators.
Tesla will continue to use outside litigators, but it’s important to build a powerful litigation team internally, so that we’re not always on the defensive. We’ll also go after the Wall St short-sellers, certain law firms & (sometimes) corrupt regulators who are the true evil.
Tesla will continue to use outside litigators, but it’s important to build a powerful litigation team internally, so that we’re not always on the defensive.
We’ll also go after the Wall St short-sellers, certain law firms & (sometimes) corrupt regulators who are the true evil.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 4, 2023