tech news
Twitter Users Vote for Elon Musk to Step Down, He Pledges to “Abide by the Results”
After 53 days, countless firings, a total collapse of his free speech posture, and some very weird lies about doxxing and “assassination coordinates,” Elon Musk might be poised to step down as head of Twitter. Musk had always said that he expects to find a new CEO “over time,” but the timeline may have been accelerated starting Sunday, December 18th, when he put up a 12-hour Twitter poll asking, “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.” In a decisive result, 57.5% to 42.5%, Twitter users voted “Yes,” he should abdicate the role. “Be careful what you wish,” Musk warned as the results of his poll came in. “You might get it.” In response to a comment suggesting a replacement CEO had already been selected, Musk added, “No one wa...
Boo Hoo, Elon Musk Is No Longer World’s Richest Man
If it felt like Elon Musk spent the last year lighting his fortune on fire, well, Bloomberg agrees, reporting that Tesla’s plummeting stock price has cost Musk so much money that he is no longer the world’s richest man. At his less-controversial apex, Musk, 51, was worth about $340 billion, but in 2022 he’s lost more than $100 billion in Tesla stock alone, and that’s before you count his massive overpay for Twitter. Now, he’s down to (only!) $168.5 billion, which is still good enough for second on the world wealth rankings. Try not to cry for him too hard. Taking over No. 1 with a fortune of $172.9 billion is Bernard Arnault. The 73-year-old owes his wealth to a 48% stake in the luxury brand LVMH, which is usually spelled out in the opposite order of its initials a...
Actually Kanye West Will Not Be Buying Parler
Kanye West‘s agreement to purchase Parler has been called off, according to a statement from the parent company of the right-wing social media platform. “In response to numerous media inquiries, Parlement Technologies would like to confirm that the company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler,” the company wrote. “This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November.” Parler advertises itself as “the world’s pioneering uncancelable free speech platform,” and West sought to buy it after his Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted for writing, among other things, that he’d go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” Advertisement Related Video “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be contr...
Crypto Nerds Built Elon Musk a $600,000 Statue of His Head on a Doge Riding a Rocket
Despite scaring off Twitter’s advertisers weeks after his purchase of the platform, Elon Musk has managed to keep some fanboys on lock, especially in the cryptocurrency world. In fact, the crypto company EGTPRO — which stands for Elon Goat Token — so wants Musk’s attention that it raised $600,000 from the “super fans” of the entrepreneur and built him a statue depicting his head on the body of the Doge coin Shiba Inu dog riding a rocket. “Elon GOAT Token has really stepped outside the box and did something no other Crypto project has dared to do,” EGTPRO said on its website. “We built Elon Musk a $600,000 monument on the back of a semi trailer in honor of his many accomplishments and commitment to Cryptocurrency!” According to Interesting Engineering, the project was designed by Danny...
Elon Musk Complains of “Massive Drop in Revenue” as Advertisers Flee Twitter
Elon Musk is complaining of a “massive drop in revenue” as several advertisers have pulled spending from Twitter, according to reports from CNN and The Wall Street Journal. Companies to pause their Twitter advertising include General Mills; Mondelez International, which makes Oreos and other snacks; pharmaceutical giant Pfizer; and Volkswagen, which owns brands such as Audi, Porsche, and Bentley. Additionally, Interpublic Group, which consults on advertising strategy for large corporations including Coca-Cola and Unilever, has advised their clients to hold their money for now. In a November 4th tweet, Musk laid the blame on unnamed “activist groups.” He wrote, “Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing ...
Elon Musk Wants to Bring Vine Back: Report
Elon Musk continues to move fast since officially taking over Twitter, and his latest move is resurrecting Vine. According to a report from Axios, Musk has tasked engineers to focus on a reboot of the once-popular video sharing app that could be ready by the end of 2022. According to Axios, engineers have found Vine’s old code base “needs a lot of work” after not being changed or updated since it was formally shut down by Twitter in 2016. When Vine was active, it became the most-downloaded free app in the iOS App Store. Vine also helped launch the careers of artists like Shawn Mendes, Ruth B, and producer Jay Versace, as well as notorious social media personality Logan Paul. The ByteDance-owned app TikTok has stepped into the void left behind by Vine. In September 2021, TikTok announced it...
Elon Musk’s First Grand Plan for Twitter? Charging $20 Per Month for a Blue Checkmark
It’s day three of Elon Musk’s reign over Twitter, and beyond seeing an influx of racists tweeting, one big development is Musk’s plan for verification. According to The Verge, Twitter will soon start charging users as much as $19.99 per month for that little blue check mark. Under the proposed plan, Twitter will make verification one of the core features of its premium subscription service, Twitter Blue. Current Twitter Blue subscribers pay $4.99 per month for features like an edit button, a custom reader mode, bookmarks, and more. Musk will reportedly triple the price with the added carrot of giving unverified users the opportunity of adding a blue checkmark next to their handles. Advertisement Related Video Existing verified users would have 90 days to subscribe to Twitter Blue or lose t...
Use of N-Word Jumps 500% After Elon Musk Buys Twitter
Self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” Elon Musk officially bought Twitter on October 27th, and in the hours following the deal, a slew of bigoted troll accounts appeared to test the limits of his moderation policies. According to The Washington Post, in the 12 hours after Musk acquired Twitter, use of the N-word surged 500%. “Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs. K—S AND N—–S,” one account said, using slurs for Jewish and Black people. “I can freely express how much I hate n—–s … now, thank you elon,” another said. One account, created this month, used a swastika as its profile picture and tweeted antisemitic memes alongside retweeting posts from Musk. Much of this hate speech was organized on platforms like 4chan, said the Network Contagion Research Institute, which anal...
Elon Musk Officially Closes Twitter Deal, Fires Top Executives
After much deliberation and legal back-and-forth, Elon Musk has officially finalized his purchase of Twitter. He closed the $44 billion deal late on Thursday, October 27th. Per The Washington Post, one of Musk’s first moves was firing top Twitter executives including CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety. The company’s general counsel, Sean Edgett, was also let go. “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk wrote on Twitter prior to formalizing the deal. “I didn’t do it to make money. I did it to help humanity, whom I love.” Advertise...
Apple’s New Car Crash Detection Feature Is Mistaking Rollercoaster Rides for Emergencies
Apple’s technology continues to get more advanced with every new iPhone, but one new feature may not have worked out all its kinks. The brand new iPhone 14 and Apple Watch come with a car crash detection feature that alerts first responders and one’s emergency contacts if they get in an accident, but as The Wall Street Journal reports, some phones have sounded the alarm after detecting the speeds and drops of a harmless rollercoaster. Apple uses sensor data to determine if a crash occurred, but the experiences of folks who have (inadvertently) used the new feature suggest that any sudden drop could trigger the emergency call. One woman with a brand new iPhone 14 Pro attended Kings Island amusement park near Cincinnati this September, and after riding the Mystic Timbers rollercoaster —...
Elon Musk Agrees to Buy Twitter (Again) at Original Price of $44 Billion: Report
Elon Musk has agreed to buy Twitter at his original proposed price of $54.20 per share, or about $44 billion total, Bloomberg reports and the New York Times confirms. Few details are known at this time. Musk is said to have expressed his renewed interest in a letter to the social media giant on the evening of October 3rd and met in court with Twitter representatives the morning of October 4th. Musk began trying to back out of the purchase agreement almost as soon as Twitter accepted it his original offer in April. He accused the platform of misleading or lying to investors about its number of daily active users, saying in May that the deal “cannot move forward” until Twitter proved that less than 5% of users are bots or spam accounts. Advertisement Related Video The Tes...
Underpinning SA’s BPO Explosion
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