Elon Musk Suing Microsoft Over Twitter Data’s Illegal Use

In the latest tweet today, Twitter boss Elon Musk threatened to sue Microsoft over the illegal use of Twitter’s data. 

The tweet reply read, “They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.”

This threat from Elon comes as a reply to Microsoft dropping Twitter from its social management and advertising tool. They’ve also refused to pay Twitter’s API fees.

All of this means after 25th April, users will no longer be able to access their Twitter accounts, draft/manage tweets, view past tweets, or schedule tweets from Microsoft’s Digital Marketing Center (DMC).

But, why did Microsoft drop Twitter?

The Backstory Behind Microsoft & Twitter’s Fallout

Earlier in February, Twitter announced that it will no longer keep its API free to use. Instead, it encourages businesses to opt for the Enterprise Tier API which will cost as high as $42,000 for large companies.

Microsoft looking at cutting costs is not keen on paying such a high amount to Twitter, causing its drop from DMC. 

But, if you read between the lines, there’s a lot of drama underneath.

Elon Musk’s Ambitions with X.AI

Microsoft has invested huge sums towards the development of AI tech from companies like OpenAI, and their in-house AI projects. 

With Elon’s plan to enter the AI domain with his new company X.AI, he came directly under the crosshairs of the tech giant. 

Additionally, Elon has invested in Nvidia’s AI chip GPUs, which Microsoft is finding an alternative to. 

So, there’s an AI rivalry going on between the two.

The allegations of the illegal use of Twitter data were pointed toward Microsoft-backed AI company OpenAI using a specific data set, that Elon feels is illegal. 

Whether this is a legitimate threat or a statement to spur the rivalry, remains to be seen.

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