Home » Twitter/X News • US business news » Elon Musk accuses Microsoft of improperly using Twitter data
Elon Musk accuses Microsoft of improperly using Twitter data
https://www.whatjobs.com/news/usa/us-business-news/elon-musk-accuses-microsoft-of-improperly-using-twitter-data
By Nithya Bose in Twitter/X News, posted May 19, 2023
Twitter has accused Microsoft of using its data without authorization in a letter to its CEO Satya Nadella.
The letter claims that Microsoft violated its data agreement and refused to pay for its usage.
It also claims the software giant exceeded the permitted amount of Twitter data and shared it with government agencies without consent.
Read More: Elon Musk tweets “lawsuit time” after Microsoft’s use of Twitter data
Alex Spiro, personal lawyer for Twitter CEO Elon Musk, wrote in the letter Microsoft may have violated multiple agreement provisions for an extended period.
The move follows Musk’s public criticism of Microsoft for "illegally" using Twitter data to train its artificial intelligence technologies and hinted at potential legal action.
Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesperson, acknowledged receipt of the letter and said they would review the questions before responding.
He expressed their commitment to continuing their long-term partnership with the social media platform.
Musk did not provide a comment regarding the matter.
Read More: Elon Musk says he found a new CEO for Twitter
The relationship between Musk and Microsoft has experienced some friction recently, including disputes over OpenAI, the start-up behind the ChatGPT chatbot.
Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, has alleged Microsoft exerts control over the start-up's business decisions due to its $13 billion investment.
Microsoft has disputed this claim and announced last month it won’t pay for access to Twitter's data.
It also informed advertisers on its platform that Twitter would be removed.
The letter to Nadella does not specify whether Twitter plans to take legal action against the company or seek financial compensation.
Need Career Advice? Get employment skills advice at all levels of your career
However, it demands Microsoft adhere to Twitter's developer agreement and examine the data usage of eight of its applications.
Twitter also requires the firm to submit a report by June detailing the amount of data it possesses, how it was stored and utilized, and when government-related organizations accessed the data.
The letter also alleges that Microsoft used its data in Xbox, its gaming system, Bing, its search engine, and various tools for advertising and cloud computing.
Twitter imposes limits on data usage, stipulating that access must remain within a "reasonable" volume.
The letter claims that Microsoft reportedly utilized Twitter's data portal “over 780 million times and retrieved over 26 billion tweets in 2022 alone.”
Follow us on YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
