KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Oct 04, 2024

Elon Musk says his dog is now Twitter's CEO - as company's name gets quietly changed

Elon Musk says his dog is now Twitter's CEO - as company's name gets quietly changed

Prior to his takeover, Elon Musk spoke of an ambition to turn Twitter into "X, the everything app". According to a court document filed in California, and a subsequent tweet by Musk, that plan is beginning to take shape.

Elon Musk has said his dog has replaced him as Twitter's chief executive after appearing to back away from a pledge to step down.

The billionaire SpaceX boss took over the day-to-day running of the social media platform after buying it for $44bn (£38bn) last October.

After a tumultuous start to his tenure, which included thousands of staff sacked and warnings from regulators, Musk appeared to commit to quitting as CEO.

He set a Twitter poll in motion last December, writing: "Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll."

Reminded of the pledge during an impromptu live BBC interview on Tuesday, Musk said: "I did stand down. I keep telling you I'm not the CEO of Twitter, my dog is the CEO of Twitter."

Musk, 51, has regularly made light of the controversy surrounding his stewardship of Twitter, and recently replaced its recognisable bird logo with the icon of cryptocurrency Dogecoin - a Shiba Inu like his dog Floki.

The "w" in Twitter was also removed from signage outside the company's San Francisco headquarters.

Musk's rare interview

Musk's BBC interview was broadcast in a Twitter Spaces call, and came after the broadcaster objected to being labelled "government-funded media" on the platform.

The BBC said it was arranged at short notice and took place at the firm's HQ.

Musk is regularly critical of media outlets, and recently removed The New York Times' verification tick after the newspaper said it would not pay to keep it.

Accounts will soon have to be signed up to subscription service Twitter Blue to have a blue checkmark.

After numerous false starts, Musk has said legacy checkmarks will finally be removed on 20 April. Journalists are among the accounts set to be impacted.


 Running Twitter 'a rollercoaster'

Having remained CEO, Musk admitted running Twitter had been "quite a rollercoaster" - and suggested he only went through with the takeover because a judge would have forced him to.

Musk had tried to back out after making his initial offer in April 2022, prompting Twitter to sue.

He said he has around 1,500 employees left after last year's mass lay-offs. Among those let go were engineers responsible for preventing service outages, sources told Reuters news agency.

Twitter has suffered several bugs and outages since the turn of the year, according to internet watchdog group NetBlocks, but Musk said any problems had not lasted long.

Musk also rejected claims that there had been a rise in hate speech and misinformation on Twitter.

Is a new name imminent?

The interview came as it emerged Twitter Inc no longer exists as a company.

According to a court document filed in California, it has been merged into a firm dubbed X Corp.

Musk appeared to confirm the move by tweeting an "X".

 Prior to his takeover, Musk spoke of an ambition to turn Twitter into "X, the everything app".

The vague idea has been compared China's WeChat, which combines features such as messaging, a marketplace, and public Twitter-style posts into one place.

Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×