Twitter Stakeholder Elon Musk Tweets ‘Is Twitter Dying?’

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas.
CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas.
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Twitter Stakeholder Elon Musk Tweets ‘Is Twitter Dying?’

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas.
CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

Twitter's newest board member and largest stakeholder Elon Musk tweeted Saturday to ask if the social media network was "dying" and to call out users such as singer Justin Bieber, who are highly followed but rarely post.

"Most of these 'top' accounts tweet rarely and post very little content," the Tesla boss wrote, captioning a list of the 10 profiles with the most followers -- a list which includes himself at number eight, with 81 million followers.

"Is Twitter dying?" he wrote.

Former US President Barack Obama appears at the top with 131 million followers, followed by stars such as Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Taylor Swift, as well as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and football star Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.

"For example, @taylorswift13 hasn't posted anything in 3 months," Musk continued.

"And @justinbieber only posted once this entire year."

The social media company named Musk to the board on Tuesday after the outspoken and polarizing executive disclosed he had acquired a more than nine percent stake in the company, making him Twitter's largest shareholder.

Musk said he looked forward to soon making "significant improvements to Twitter," and began polling his followers on whether to add an "edit" button to the service, a long-discussed tweak.

Twitter has now said that it will start experimenting with one.

On Thursday, Musk tweeted a photo of himself smoking marijuana on a Joe Rogan podcast in 2018, with the caption, "Twitter's next board meeting is gonna be lit."

His antics often raise eyebrows and occasionally draw condemnation, as when Jewish groups blasted his tweet comparing Canadian leader Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler over Covid-19 vaccine mandates. Musk later deleted the tweet without apologizing.

The appointment has sparked misgivings among some employees, according to a Washington Post report.

Workers at the California-based social media company cited worries about Musk's statements on transgender issues and his reputation as a difficult and driven leader, according to statements on Slack reviewed by the Post.

A California agency has sued Tesla, alleging discrimination and harassment against Black workers. The electric carmaker has rejected the charges, saying it opposes discrimination.



Huawei Eyes Greater Role in Brazil Data Center Market

Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. (Reuters)
Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. (Reuters)
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Huawei Eyes Greater Role in Brazil Data Center Market

Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. (Reuters)
Huawei logo is seen during Munich Auto Show, IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, Germany, September 8, 2021. (Reuters)

Chinese tech giant Huawei is interested in strengthening and improving its capacity as a supplier of data center solutions, it said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday, clarifying that it did not intend to invest directly in data centers.

Reuters had reported on Wednesday that Huawei was interested in Brazil's data center market but was waiting on the government to roll out a tax-break plan.

"We want the government to implement these incentives, which are good for the country, and the time has to be now," Atilio Rulli, Huawei vice president of public relations for Latin America and the Caribbean, told Reuters.

The government's plan to dole out tax breaks for tech investments in Brazil is set to be sent to Congress soon, a finance ministry adviser said last month.

Latin America's largest economy is looking to establish a foothold in the fast-growing data center industry, pulling from its ample renewable energy.

The country is already courting major investments from firms such as ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, Reuters has reported.

Huawei could provide connectivity, storage and energy for data centers, Rulli said, speaking on the sidelines of an event hosted by state development bank BNDES.

"Huawei continues to follow the incentive policy being conducted by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, and when in force, will continue to contribute reliable, scalable and sustainable solutions to accelerate the digital transformation in Brazil and Latin America," Huawei said in the statement on Thursday.