Twitter Accused Microsoft of UnAuthorized Data Sharing

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Twitter
Good Twitter, Bad Twitter

Since the take-over by Elon Musk, Twitter has been in the news in one way or another. This time it is a letter sent to the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, reported by The New York Times (paid content).

According to the letter, Twitter has accused Microsoft of allegedly: 

  • Not paying Twitter for data it uses
  • Using more data than mutually agreed upon
  • Sharing data with government agencies without Twitter's permission

It is the last accusation that should raise eyebrows. If Microsoft is really illegally using Twitter's Data and sharing it with government agencies, it could be a red-herring.  Twitter has not explicitly identified which countries and government agencies were involved in this data sharing.

The letter doesn't threat any legal action from Twitter against Microsoft for now. All Twitter demanded Microsoft was to share a report by next month indicating:

  • How much data from Twitter Microsoft uses across it various products including Bing, XBox, Advertising and Cloud Computing
  • Which governments have gained access to this Data

Frank Shaw, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of Communications has said the company would review the letter and respond accordingly. He clarified Microsoft doesn't pay Twitter for its data. He also reassured Microsoft's commitment to its continued long-term partnership with Twitter.

 

ThoughtsUnboxed understands Twitter is not going for a legal case here however, this can't be a far fetched scenario. Considering how revenues and profits have tanked post-COVID for almost all tech behemoths, we may see the ugliest tech lawsuits of the late 2000s and early 2010s making a comeback. Twitter may also sense an opportunity of big financial gains considering the explosion of A.I. after the surprise hit that ChatGPT is. Considering OpenAI's ChatGPT also powers Microsoft's Bing Chat and Microsoft's huge stake in OpenAI itself, Twitter may want a slice of the pie while it is battling in various fronts for revenue generation and users retention. If Twitter inks a deal with Microsoft, it would surely be a consistent flow of income to it for years to come and may relieve Twitter of the financial issues it is facing right now.

ThoughtsUnboxed also condemns if Microsoft is sharing this data with government agencies without Twitter's approval considering it can be abused due to the political instability across the globe. We hope this is just a rumor not a fact.

ThoughtsUnboxed doesn't understand the nature of the partnership between Twitter and Microsoft considering Microsoft apparently isn't paying Twitter for its data. However, Twitter does use Microsoft AI for public conversation and as a Microsoft customer, could be getting discounted pricing.

 

Source:

The New York Times

Microsoft AI for Public Conversation

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