Elon Musk claims Microsoft has been misusing Twitter data and giving it to the government

Elon Musk is claiming that Microsoft improperly used Twitter’s API. He claims Microsoft violated Twitter’s data agreement by using information it was not supposed to access and sharing data with government organizations.

The details came in a recent letter from Elon Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. It was reported by the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. However, Musk first threatened to sue over this matter on Twitter in April.

They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2023

No lawsuit has yet been filed. Twitter has, for now, just demanded a report of how much Twitter data was stored and how it has been used. It also wants to know when Microsoft gave government organizations access to Twitter data. The letter imposed a June deadline.

Twitter, Elon Musk, and Microsoft have had a rocky relationship recently. Twitter started charging for the use of its previously free API earlier this year. It reportedly charged some companies up to $50,000 USD (about $67,589 CAD). Afterwards, Microsoft pulled advertising from the site and no longer allows players to share Xbox clips to Twitter directly through the mobile app.

In addition, Microsoft invested billions in OpenAI (the creators of ChatGPT), which Musk has spoken out against and hinted at competing with.

A spokesperson from Microsoft told Engadget: “We heard from a law firm representing Twitter with some questions about our previous use of the free Twitter API. We will review these questions and respond appropriately. We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with the company.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times. Via: Engadget