Twitter Says Elon Musk's Own Data Scientists Did

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Twitter says Elon Musk’s own data

scientists did not back up bots claims
Social media group seeks sanctions as billionaire
attempts to pull out of $44bn takeover deal
According to Twitter’s lawyers, reports on the number of bots on the

platform were handed to Musk a day before he announced he planned to
terminate the merger agreement © Gregory Bull/AP
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Hannah Murphy in San Francisco and Sujeet Indap

8
in New York YESTERDAY
Twitter has said Elon Musk’s own data scientists

did not support his claim that the number of fake
accounts on the social media platform is “wildly
higher” than the company’s estimates, as the
parties prepare to go to trial in October.
The Tesla chief executive is attempting to pull out

of a $44bn deal to buy Twitter, arguing that it
misled regulators and investors about the true
number of fake and spam accounts on the
platform, which he alleges far outstrips the 5 per
cent figure that Twitter has cited for years.
During a three-hour hearing in a Delaware court

on Tuesday, Twitter’s lawyers said documents they
had received during discovery showed that two
different consultants hired by Musk, Cyabra and
CounterAction, had produced estimates of the
amount of spam on Twitter of 11 per cent and 5 per
cent, respectively — figures broadly in line with
Twitter’s public estimates.
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According to Twitter’s lawyers, the reports were

handed to the billionaire entrepreneur a day before
he announced plans to terminate the merger
agreement. Twitter also criticised the
methodologies of both data groups, despite their
seemingly supportive results.
Twitter has asked the court to force Musk to share

more information on the work of multiple data
scientist consultants with regards to fake accounts
on the social media platform. The company said
that while Musk had shared some details produced
by his consultants, he had also engaged in a
“pattern of delay and obstruction” over the past
two months, a claim Musk’s lawyers denied.
Separately, Twitter accused Musk’s team of failing

to hand over relevant Signal messages and denying
that Musk used the encrypted messaging app,
citing evidence of an exchange with investor Marc
Andreessen in April in which messages were
automatically deleted after a period of time.
The exchange was only revealed after a screenshot

of it had been sent by Andreessen to others via
email.
Twitter also said Musk’s team had failed to turn

over text messages between Musk and Morgan
Stanley chief executive James Gorman, as well as
with Oracle’s Larry Ellison, ahead of the trial.
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Lawyers for Musk denied he had intentionally

withheld communications, arguing that “minor
mistakes will happen in expedited litigation”.
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Twitter asked the court to impose sanctions on

Musk over what it described as his misconduct
over failure to produce the messages. This included
an “adverse inference” finding that would allow the
court to assume that Musk was concealing details
that would undermine his legal argument.
Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware

Court of Chancery did not rule immediately, saying
she would take the matters under advisement. The
five-day trial is set to begin on October 17.
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Elon Musk Add to myFT

Twitter says Elon Musk’s own data

According to Twitter’s lawyers, reports on the number of bots on the

Hannah Murphy in San Francisco and Sujeet Indap

Twitter has said Elon Musk’s own data scientists

The Tesla chief executive is attempting to pull out

During a three-hour hearing in a Delaware court

According to Twitter’s lawyers, the reports were

Twitter has asked the court to force Musk to share

Separately, Twitter accused Musk’s team of failing

The exchange was only revealed after a screenshot

Twitter also said Musk’s team had failed to turn

Lawyers for Musk denied he had intentionally

Twitter asked the court to impose sanctions on

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware

Will Tesla's Optimus robot become a reality? | FT Tech

Due Diligence UK Forum

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022. All rights reserved.

Reuse this content Comments

Social Media stories you missed

The Big Read

Latest on Elon Musk

Explainer Robotics 14 min

Lex Tech start-ups

Follow the topics in this article

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Twitter Inc Add to myFT

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