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Elon Musk's Twitter now working on a generative Al project

Elon Musk’s Twitter now working on a generative Al project

The mystery of what Elon Musk plans to do with Twitter may have just begun to unravel. Even as Musk tries to hide it all behind the veil of X, an Insider report has revealed that Twitter may be working on a generative artificial intelligence (AI) project, much like a ChatGPT, using its own treasure trove of data.

The news also comes at a time when Musk has been very vocal about generative AI products and recently called for a moratorium to be placed on the release of new products in the next six months. Interestingly, Musk’s tirade is directed at OpenAI, an organization that he co-founded and donated money for AI research. Since 2018, Musk and OpenAI have split ways, with the latter funding financial support from Microsoft

How Twitter could deploy AI

According to Insider’s report, Twitter has purchased 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), which indicates plans to work on large language models (LLMs).

Interesting Engineering has previously reported how Microsoft stitched together tens of thousands of GPUs for OpenAI’s developmental work, and it now appears that the leftover engineers at Twitter will be tasked with doing the same.

To lead the task, Musk hired AI researchers from DeepMind, the AI research wing of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and has personally approached people in the AI field, reports suggest.

Although speculation, it appears that Musk could task AI with improving the search functionality at Twitter, something Musk has publicly complained about earlier.

The other area where AI could help is in serving personalized advertisements, as the platform looks to make money in ways other than subscription fees. Generative AI could dish out targeted images and text to users on the platform.

While the project is an attempt to breathe fresh life into Twitter, Musk could also be using it to settle scores with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. According to a Semafor report, back in 2018, Musk wanted to lead OpenAI’s research efforts and take up the CEO’s job, a move that was opposed by Altman and other co-founders.

Musk soon left OpenAI while also taking away funding for development works at OpenAI. A move that saw the latter strike up a partnership with Microsoft. The recent success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has allegedly infuriated Musk, who also shut down the organization’s access to Twitter’s database

With an in-house AI project, Musk could be looking to strike back at OpenAI, which has been a runaway success story so far.

Only Verified Accounts Can Vote in Twitter Polls from April 15: Elon Musk

Elon Musk said on Monday only verified Twitter accounts would be eligible to vote in polls starting April 15, a move that the social media company’s CEO believes will address advanced AI bot swarms.

Musk also said only verified accounts will be eligible to be in Twitter’s For You recommendations, which displays a stream of tweets from accounts on Twitter.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Last year, Musk had said Twitter would restrict voting on policy-related polls to paying Twitter Blue subscribers.

Elon Musk Values Twitter at $20 Billion After Buying it For $44 Billion

Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, has reportedly issued stock grants to the company’s staff at a valuation of close to $20 billion.

The price is only half of what he paid for Twitter in October 2022, when he shelled out $44 billion to buy the microblogging platform, according to multiple media sources on Saturday.

“Musk sent Twitter employees an email about the state of Twitter 2.0. He acknowledged the company has been through a period of radical change, but said the changes were necessary… Because Twitter was previously about 4 months away from running out of money.” Zoe Schiffer, a tech journalist, tweeted on Saturday. 

“Comp increases will be based on X Corp stock. Current grants are based on a $20 billion valuation. Musk says he sees a ‘clear but difficult path’ to $250 billion valuation, which would mean current grants could 10x. Musk says Twitter is on the path of an inverse startup.” she wrote in the thread of comments.

Twitter’s value has dropped significantly since the acquisition, but it is still far higher than Twitter’s competitors’ public market valuation levels, according to a report by The information.

The site has lost advertisers as a result of the Musk-mandated reinstatement of some previously banned users, an increase in antisemitic and other hate speech, broken functionality, and a botched blue check rollout that cost Eli Lilly millions of dollars.

Despite the fact that ad revenue surprisingly increased during the fourth quarter of 2022, the site has lost many users permanently, reported The Wrap. 

The $20 billion valuation indicates a multiple of 11 times this year’s revenue, translating to an inferred enterprise value of $33 billion, according to The Information report. Musk has predicted that Twitter will earn less than $3 billion in revenue this year.

Musk’s takeover of Twitter

Following his takeover of Twitter, Musk said his business was losing $4 million every day. The billionaire took action to reduce staff size and fired approximately 70% of employees in order to reduce costs. 

 “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” Musk said back then. 

The amount spent on Twitter advertising in the month before, December, had decreased by 71%, said a study in January. 

Following Musk’s takeover, big advertisers cut back on their spending on the social media network, which caused the fall. 

In November, compared to the prior year, Twitter advertising spending fell by 55%. According to another source, Twitter’s annual income was down 40%.

The majority of Twitter’s income still comes from advertising, and after Musk took control, the top companies left in droves. Yet, Elon Musk was able to win back some sponsors by providing steep discounts. He has also implemented subscription-based verification to boost sales.

Twitter to Remove the Legacy Blue Tick From 1st April

For all those with legacy blue ticks on their Twitter profile, time is running out. The microblogging platform on Friday announced that it will be doing away with Twitter to Remove the Legacy Blue Tick starting April 1.

This is seen as the Elon Musk-owned application’s way to expand its paid Twitter Blue subscription program. Meanwhile, the platform has asked individuals and organizations with legacy blue ticks to sign up for its flagship program to retain their verification badges.

“On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue…” the company stated in a Tweet that was accompanied by links to subscribe to the premium program.

The Twitter Blue program, which costs Rs 900 per month on iOS and Android devices will let users have the coveted blue tick mark which was earlier reserved for notable personalities. The Twitter Blue subscription comes at Rs 650 for the web. Twitter is also offering an annual plan with up to 12 per cent discount. Similarly, Twitter Blue is priced at $11 for iOS and Android and $8 for the web in the US.

More changes to Twitter Blue

Twitter has also introduced some changes to its Twitter Blue subscription. According to the latest reports, the subscription plan is now available for purchase worldwide. The cooling-off period for new accounts to buy Twitter Blue has been reduced to 30 days.

Earlier, newly created accounts had to wait for 90 days to be eligible to subscribe to Twitter Blue. The waiting period was introduced after several accounts began impersonating brands, politicians, and celebrities after Elon Musk introduced the Twitter Blue plan.

“New subscriptions to Twitter Blue are available globally on web, iOS, or Android. Not all features are available on all platforms. Newly created Twitter accounts will not be able to subscribe to Twitter Blue for 30 days. We may also impose waiting periods for new accounts in the future at our discretion, and without notice,” read the official Twitter Blue page.

The Twitter Blue paid subscription was rolled out days after Elon Musk took over the company in 2022. Earlier, Twitter verification was only limited to accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists, and public figures. With Musk at the helm, Twitter is now offering verification badges to anyone with a Twitter Blue subscription.

The Blue service lets users tweet up to 4,000 characters, and compose longer Quote Tweets or replies. Users will also be able to get prioritized ranking in conversations, and lesser ads, and will be able to post longer videos.

Parts of the Source Code that Runs Twitter Leaked Online

Some parts of Twitter’s source code — the fundamental computer code on which the social network runs — were leaked online, the social media company said in a legal filing on Sunday that was first reported by The New York Times.

According to the legal document, filed with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, Twitter had asked GitHub, an internet hosting service for software development, to take down the code where it was posted. The platform complied and said the content had been disabled, according to the filing. Twitter also asked the court to identify the alleged infringer or infringers who posted Twitter’s source code on systems operated by GitHub without Twitter’s authorization.

Twitter, based in San Francisco, noted in the filing that the postings infringe copyrights held by Twitter.

The leak creates more challenges for billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last October for $44 billion and took the company private. Since then, it has been engulfed in chaos, with massive layoffs and advertisers fleeing.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is probing Musk’s mass layoffs at Twitter and trying to obtain his internal communications as part of ongoing oversight into the social media company’s privacy and cybersecurity practices, according to documents described in a congressional report.