OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Billionaire Elon Musk may not be done with his push into social media.
The SpaceX and Tesla founder, who is currently sparring with Twitter in court over terms of his $44 billion offer earlier this year to buy the platform, suggested on Wednesday that he is open to working with Rumble, a YouTube competitor in which Fox News host and conservative talker Dan Bongino has a financial interest.
Musk dropped the hint following an exchange with Russel Brand, a Hollywood celebrity who has taken up the cause of free speech, who claimed that YouTube censored him for making a minor mistake — one he says the legacy corporate media made as well but did not suffer any consequences for doing so because Brand believes the platform is now part of the mainstream media.
“Good point,” Musk responded.
Good point
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2022
Following Musk’s post, Bongino hopped in to make a pitch for his platform.
“Elon, it would be really incredible if you and Rumble got together. A force multiplier like no other,” he wrote.
Musk replied, perhaps in reference to his ongoing legal battle with Twitter: “I’m a little preoccupied rn [right now].”
I’m a little preoccupied rn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2022
Then, Rumble’s founder, Chris Pavlovski, joined the fray and made a pitch of his own to Musk.
“Elon, I founded Rumble and forever wanted to work with you. Below is from 2010 when I visited SpaceX. I was ready 12 years ago, and I’m ready 12 years from now. Whenever you’re ready,” he wrote in response. “In the meantime, let’s peer our datacenters with Starlink to secure free speech.”
Maybe worth talking at some point
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 28, 2022
Musk replied: “Maybe worth talking at some point.”
Earlier this month, The Daily Wire reported on the dueling lawsuits between Musk and Twitter:
Twitter is currently battling Musk in court over his attempt to nix a previous offer to buy the company for $44 billion. Musk claims that the true number of fake accounts on the platform could number as high as 33% rather than the company’s reported 5%, with a lower number of monetizable daily active users potentially justifying a lower valuation. A trial to determine the status of the acquisition deal is scheduled for October 17.
Although she did not amend the date of the trial, Delaware Chancery Court Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick granted attorneys representing Musk permission to use the account of former Twitter executive Peiter “Mudge” Zatko — who claimed in a recent whistleblower account that his colleagues did not have the resources or motivation necessary to determine the number of bots on the platform — in their arguments.
Earlier this month, a report said that the majority of Twitter accounts are “bots” and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is engaged in a legal battle over purchasing the company, has responded.
Dan Woods, who works as the global head of cyber security provider F5’s intelligence, said that the fake accounts on Twitter could be as high as 80 percent.
“Sure sounds higher than 5%!” Musk said in a tweet with a link to the report.
Sure sounds higher than 5%!
https://t.co/Va7TxxzoI6— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2022
“On a $/bot basis, this deal is awesome,” he added sarcastically.
“I’m not a programmer, but I watched YouTube and in a weekend I wrote a script that automatically creates accounts on Twitter without encountering any obstacles,” Woods said to The Australian. “There’s huge demand [for bots], there’s a marketplace to serve that demand and if I can write a bot that creates accounts on Twitter, and I’m not even a programmer, imagine what a sophisticated programmer could do. Twitter doesn’t want (its number of bots) to be that high, so they’re going through the motions of cancelling some accounts.”
“I’m not saying they’re lying,” he said. “but we’ve really studied these accounts and we’ve come to the conclusion that there are a lot more fake accounts than Twitter is letting on.”
Over the summer, a Wall Street Journal report revealed that Musk, who also founded and runs the Starlink satellite-based internet service, is being advised by two very different men, causing some clashes within his inner circle.
“On one hand, 48-year-old wealth manager Jared Birchall is an Eagle Scout and devout Mormon who participated in a musical group called ‘The Birchall Family Singers.’ On the other hand, 34-year-old Igor Kurganov is a Russian-born, former professional gambler who dropped out of college because he smoked too much weed,” The Daily Wire noted, citing the WSJ’s report.
