Elon Musk could aggravate Twitter’s misinformation problem: Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, while speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit on Wednesday, warned that Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter for $44 million last month, could potentially worsen the platform’s misinformation problem. 

When Gates was asked about Tesla’s chief executive officer’s possible impact on the social media platform, the philanthropist noted that while Musk has a strong track record, he might exacerbate Twitter’s misinformation. He also said that Musk’s track record at other companies is impressive.

“He (Elon Musk) actually could make it worse. That’s not his track record – his track record with Tesla and SpaceX is pretty mind-blowing with putting together a great team of engineers and taking the people who worked in those fields in a less bold way and really showing them up,” he said. 

Also Read: Tucker Carlson, Mark Levin make Twitter comeback after Elon Musk’s takeover

On April 26, the board of Twitter agreed to a $44 billion takeover offer from Elon Musk.

“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement announcing the deal.

“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans,” he added.

Also Read: Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover means early Christmas for Morgan Stanley

Musk and Gates have not been at odds. According to a recently discovered text message conversation between them, Musk scolded Gates for not closing a $500 million short position on Tesla.

“Sorry, but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to solve climate change,” Musk told Gates.