Mediaboss Marketing

Twitter accused Microsoft of inappropriately harvesting the social media companys data to build apps, according to a Friday report in the New York Times. The news comes exactly one month after Microsoft dropped Twitter from its advertising platform, which prompted an angry Tweet from worlds saltiest billionaire Elon Musk.

Netflix Passwords, ChatGPT Cant Detect AI, and No More CoTweets | Editor Picks

They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time, Musk tweeted then.

The charge comes in a letter addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, sent by Alex Spiro, one of Musks personal attorneys. As you are no doubt aware, for years, Microsoft has used Twitters standard developer APIs free of charge in order to benefit from Twitters data and services in key Microsoft products that generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue for Microsoft annually, Spiro wrote. The letter lays out a number of allegations, and demands an audit of all the ways Microsoft collected and used Twitters suddenly precious data.

Usually the context comes after the content in an article, but lets start with the fun part. Mr. Billionaire Business Maverick has a little pattern going here. At Twitter, Elon keeps making wild decisions that, at least according to social media pundits, seem impulsive and not well considered. When this affects big tech companies like Apple and Microsoft, they wont put up with it, in part because they understand business is ostensibly about business, not feelings. Then Elon gets upset and calls them out on Twitter, all the while acting like hes the one being reasonable. Here we go again!

If you want to understand this billionaire-on-millionaire drama (Microsofts Nadella is worth something like $861 million), you need three sentences-worth of technical knowledge. Its worth it. Basically, Elon started charging for a tool thats always been free. Microsoft didnt want to pay for it, so it didnt fork over any money, and Elon seems insulted.

Twitter is a platform, which means it hopes that other people will build apps and other cool stuff on top of it. To encourage that, Twitter provides an application programming interface, or API, a tool that lets computer programs talk to each other and exchange data. Other social media companies like Facebook and TikTok have APIs too, and theyre typically free because the arrangement is mutually beneficial. Ok, technology explainer over.

Twitters API was always free. Then Elon Musk showed up and said everyone had to pay for it. Thats abnormaland antagonistic to the companies and developers whove spent years working with Twitter.

Microsoft is (or was) a regular user of Twitters API. No one had a problem with it, at least not out in any public temper tantrum kind of way. According to Musks threatening letter, Microsoft integrated the API with apps including Xbox One Social, Bing Pages, Azure, and the Microsoft Ads platform.

The letter says Microsoft used the API in a number of ways that violated Twitters terms of service. For one, Twitter throttles the rate at which you can collect data, but Despite these limitations, the Microsoft Apps accessed Twitters APIs over 780 million times and retrieved over 26 billion tweets in 2022 alone, the letter says. The letter also says Microsoft didnt disclose all the ways it used Twitter data, which violates the terms of service as well. CNBC got a copy of the letter, you can read it here. Microsoft didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Twitters press email now automatically responds with a poop emoji.

Earlier this year, Musk announced that its once-free API would become a paid service. That had a number of consequences which Elon either didnt think of or didnt take seriously. One of them is it broke a lot of fun Twitter robots that everyone loves (like this one, which tweets whenever the New York Times prints a word thats never been in the newspaper before). You can tell Musk didnt think this plan through because he kept changing his mind about how it was going to work when people made fun of him.

The right to tweet or download tweets is something that a lot of organizations dont seem willing to pay for. New York City, for example, said it would shutter its MTA bot which tweets about subway delays, until Twitter said, Wait, actually, sorry, you dont have to pay.

Microsoft, too, said it wasnt going to pay for the Twitter API. This is a much bigger deal, because Microsoft used the Twitter API to loop the social media company into its advertising system. Twitter wants most businesses to pay $42,000 a month to use the API. Microsofts response was essentially No, thanks, were not going to pay for the right to share advertising revenue with you.

This is what prompted Musks Lawsuit time tweet, and the threatening letter. If you unpack this for a moment, it doesnt make much sense. If Microsoft was violating Twitters terms, that would be true whether or not Microsoft pays for the API. It almost sounds like protection money: you can break our rules, but only if you pay us. Twitterdesperately needs ad money. The company makes almost every dollar of its revenue from ads, and Twitters list of big advertisers went off a cliff when Musk took over.

Advertising relies on whats called brand safety, you want to be sure your ads dont show up next to racism, for example, because that implies you support it. Too bad then, that hate speech skyrocketed on Twitter immediately after Musk bought the company. The concern isnt hypothetical: Elon unbanned several famous white nationalists and then Twitter ran ads on their profiles.

This problem certainly relates to Musks recent decision to step down as CEO and put former NBCUniversal advertising honcho Linda Yaccarino in his place. (Elon is staying on as chief technical officer and executive chairman. So hes Yaccarinos subordinate and her boss at the same time. Wonder how that will go!)

Musk has a poor track record when it comes to going head-to-head with other big companies. Apple pulled back its ad spending on Twitter ads amidst the chaos of Elons early days. You might think youd reassure companies who are worried your platform might make them look bad. But not Elon. Hes playing 4D chess. Musk lashed out at Apple, asking his millions of followers whether Apple made the move because it hates free speech. He also tweeted he was going to war with the iPhone maker, a message he later deleted.

Heres how that war played out. Apple CEO Tim Cook invited Elon to visit the Apple campus. If you know what they talked about, I am begging you to email me, because that same day, Musk completely changed his tune. Not only did he stop criticizing Apple, he started praising the company, thanking Cook for his hospitality and groveling about the companys beautiful HQ. Whatever Cook said to Elon, it turned him from a threat into a lap dog.

Perhaps Musks war on Microsoft will go better. At least in this case, there is a slightly better reason for the vitriol.

There is a broader debate thats going on in the tech industry. For about a decade, all of the big technology companies walled off their own little gardens. Meta did social media. Google had web tools like Search, Gmail, Chrome, and YouTube. Apple made phones. Microsoft made boring software for businesses. Twitter, a tiny compared to these giants, was just happy to be there. There was a lot of crossover, but most of these businesses really didnt compete with each other. They all had their own things going.

Suddenly, thats changing. Microsoft is gunning for Googles search business. Apple wants a cut of Metas targeted ad money. And almost everybody, out of nowhere, is in a fierce battle over AI. You need a lot of data to train AI algorithms, and companies like Twitter and Reddit had a lot of it lying around.

Musk really wants to be a part of this AI party. He put $50 million or so into OpenAI in its early stages (Musk keeps giving different numbers). Musk recently told Tucker Carlson that hes going to build an AI called TruthGPT, an anti-woke alternative to ChatGPT. Fortunately for anyone who likes hearing accurate things about racism and history, you can bet youll never see TruthGPT. If theres one thing you can count on, its that the self-sabotaging humiliation machine that is Elon Musk doesnt fulfill his promises.

For a conflict that supposedly all about business, there seem to be a lot of emotions involved. This could be related to the fact that Microsoft was one of many organizations that declined to give Musk a bail out when he tried to change his mind about buying Twitter. Text messages that came out in a lawsuit showed Musk and Nadella were in contact, and apparently Musk shared some neat ideas about Microsoft teams, the companys chat software. Nadella texted Musk will for sure follow-up on Teams feedback! We dont know, however, whether that follow up ever came.

See the rest here:

Twitter Sends Microsoft Mean Letter Because Elon Is Mad - Gizmodo

Shark Tank star Kevin O'Leary doesn't mind if staff at his 54 companies work from homeand he certainly doesn't think it's "immoral".

More from Fortune: 5 side hustles where you may earn over $20,000 per yearall while working from home Looking to make extra cash? This CD has a 5.15% APY right now Buying a house? Here's how much to save This is how much money you need to earn annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home

When asked if working from home is unethical the Canadian businessmanreportedly worth $400 millionresponded simply "no."

It comes following a rant from Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk, who questioned if it was "morally right" for some people to work from home where others, such as delivery drivers and factory workers, cannot.

"[It's] messed up," Musk said in an interview with CNBC. "It's a productivity issue but it's also a moral issue. People should get off their godd*** moral high horse with their work-from-home b****** because they're asking everyone else to not work from home while they do."

O'Leary is more open to the policya tactic which may make him more popular with staff, as a recent study from McKinsey & Company found that 87% of the American workforce would choose to work somewhat flexibly if the opportunity was offered to them.

McKinsey added: "Employers are wise to invest in technology, adapt policies, and train employees to create workplaces that integrate people working remotely and on-site."

"The world's changed," O'Leary told CNN. "The economy's changed, the ethics of work have changed. We went through an extraordinary period during the pandemicthe idea that you'd split up a headquarters and you'd let people leave a headquarters to work from home was not even contemplated. It was considered too risky.

"Now it's a proven, effective method or project management."

Story continues

O'Leary highlighted that the situation for Musk is different to many of the companies he owns: "In Elon's case, to be fair about what it is he's talking about, when you're in a highly engineered business like Tesla or SpaceX I get the idea that you want collaboration between engineers.

"They're sitting around trying to solve design problems or whatever."

However, O'Leary said that this fact has "nothing to do" with the other ten sectors of the economy which have already made the decision to experiment with more hybrid working models.

O'Leary highlighted that his 54 companies operate in almost every state and sector and said that 40% of those businesses are "never" coming back to the office.

He added: "Prior to the pandemic I was very fortunate in a portfolio basis to make 15% free cashflow pre-tax. Today that same portfolio, post-pandemic, with 40% of the staff working remotely all around the world, is going to do 17.5% free cash. That's a 20% increase in free cash flow.

"So you can't tell me this doesn't work, in fact, I want to do more of this because I'm reducing my costs of real estate."

Preparing to embark on the 15th season of Shark Tank, O'Leary said economic shifts have impacted the number of entrepreneurs approaching him for investment.

"We have a record number of applications and there's a single reason why. It's gone back to 2008 when we started. There is no venture capital money available right now. The entire banking system is shut down because of Silicon Valley Bank and the other failures and this period of rising rates," he explained.

"We are going to see incredible deal flow this yearmuch larger than ever beforebut the terms, I'm licking my chops."

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

More from Fortune: 5 side hustles where you may earn over $20,000 per yearall while working from homeLooking to make extra cash? This CD has a 5.15% APY right nowBuying a house? Here's how much to saveThis is how much money you need to earn annually to comfortably buy a $600,000 home

Read more from the original source:

You cant tell me this doesnt work: Shark Tanks Kevin OLeary has ripped apart Elon Musks claim that working from home is immoral - Yahoo Finance

'Shark Tank' star Kevin O'Leary (left) says unlike Elon Musk, he prefers his employees work from home. Musk has called work-from-home "morally wrong." Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images and Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary says he doesn't agree with Elon Musk when it comes to the debate on remote work he actually prefers the employees at his 54 companies work from home.

"You can't tell me this doesn't work," O'Leary said, during an interview with CNN on Thursday. "In fact, I want to do more of this because I'm reducing my costs of real estate."

O'Leary said that he's seen a 20% increase in pre-tax cashflow as a result of more people working from home since the pandemic. He said that across his 54 companies about 40% of them have decided they are "never" coming back to the office.

A study from last year found that companies can save up to $11,000 for every employee working two or three days at home each week. The research firm Global Workplace Analytics said the savings were the result of lower rent and staff turnover, as well as increased productivity.

Earlier this week, Musk spoke out against remote work and said that the "laptop classes are living in la-la land," during an interview with CNBC.

Musk said that he thinks it's unfair that remote workers are able to work from the comfort of their own homes, while the people that make their cars or food have no other option but to physically go into work everyday and called the work-from-home movement "morally wrong."

O'Leary told CNN he doesn't see the practice as morally wrong.

"The world's changed. The economy has changed. The ethics of work has changed," O'Leary said, adding that the idea of allowing people to work remotely was viewed as "too risky" before the pandemic, but has since becomes "a proven effective method of project management."

Though, the investor said he could understand why Musk would be against remote work at businesses like Tesla and SpaceX.

"I get the idea that you want collaboration between engineers," O'Leary said of Musk's companies. "They're sitting around trying to solve design problems or whatever, but it has nothing to do with the other ten sectors of the economy, which have already made a decision."

Musk has already taken strides to bring his workers into the office. Last year, he told Tesla workers toreturn to the office fulltime or quit. He has also called Twitter's staffback into the office.

While tech workers have spoken out against Musk's comments on remote work, other tech companies have alsotaken similar steps to bring workers back to in-person work.

Do you work in tech or have insight to share? Reach out to the reporter from a non-work email at gkay@insider.com

Loading...

View original post here:

'Shark Tank' Kevin O'Leary says he prefers remote workers - Business Insider

Silicon Valley "laptop classes" need to get off their "moral high horse" with their "work-from-home bulls***," Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC's David Faber in a Tuesday interview.

Musk was discussing return-to-office imperatives that have caused significant concern among tech workers in Silicon Valley and across the U.S., many of whom were promised generous remote work mandates by top executives.

"I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fake Marie Antoinette quote, 'Let them eat cake,"" Musk said. "It's not just a productivity thing," Musk said. "I think it's morally wrong."

Musk referred to tech workers as the "laptop classes living in la-la-land," telling Faber it was hypocritical to work from home while expecting service workers to continue to show up in person.

"People should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work-from-home bulls***," Musk continued.

As productivity apparently slackened and investor expectations grew, many executives at companies including Amazon and Salesforce have demanded workers begin to return to offices.

Watch the full interview here.

Visit link:

Elon Musk: Working from home is 'morally wrong' when service workers still have to show up - CNBC

In an aerial view, a modified company sign is posted on the exterior of the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, April 10, 2023.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Elon Musk and X Corp. the Musk-backed parent company of social media platform Twitter face an investigation over building code violations at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters on Market Street, according to online public records with the county's Department of Building Inspection.

The probe, which was previously reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, follows a lawsuit filed May 16 in Delaware court by six former Twitter employees, who allege Musk's "transition team" knowingly and repeatedly ordered them to break local and federal laws, including by making unsafe modifications to the company's office space.

The lawsuit alleges under Musk's management, X Corp. directed employees to turn rooms in the San Francisco headquarters office into "hotel rooms," while lying to inspectors and their landlord they were just "temporary rest spaces" with some comfortable furniture added and no substantive or structural changes.

The lawsuit says one employee was told to place locks on the unauthorized "hotel room" doors that did not meet a California code which "requires locks that automatically disengage when the building's fire suppression systems are triggered."

The ex-Twitter employee said in the complaint Musk's transition team repeatedly told them "compliant locks were too expensive" and instructed them instead to "immediately install cheaper locks that were not compliant with life safety and egress codes."

The employee quit rather than break that law, their attorneys noted in the lawsuit.

The complaint also alleges Musk-led Twitter failed to pay the employees severance, back pay and benefits they were owed, and discriminated against some senior employees on the basis of age, gender and sexual orientation when it decided to terminate them.

Additionally, the lawsuit said Musk and members of his transition team, namely Boring Company executive Steve Davis, ordered employees involved in the management of real estate to slash costs by $500 million as quickly as they could. In the drive to cut costs, the Musk transition team told employees to simply refuse to pay landlords who were owed rent by the company.

When informed of the risks of termination fees for certain leases, Davis told Twitter senior employees, "Well, we just won't pay those. We just won't pay landlords," adding, "we just won't pay rent," the complaint says.

Meanwhile, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is actively courting Musk to move Twitter headquarters to his jurisdiction. On Friday, he wrote on Twitter, "let's get them to MIA asap."

CNBC reached out to Twitter for further information and the company responded with an automated response that included a poop emoji but no comment.

A representative for the Department of Building Inspection in San Francisco said in an emailed statement that the complaint was opened Friday morning and "no further action has been taken yet."

"We expect to reach out to building management soon," the spokesperson wrote. "We are not speculating on future potential enforcement action."

Read the lawsuit here.

Continued here:

Elon Musk and Twitter face San Francisco city probe over headquarters - CNBC