After Musk finished laying off 3,800 people in a day, he wants people to focus on the future of the social media platform, not necessarily the present.
Speaking at an investment conference in New York on Friday, Musk talked about advertiser divestments and the ensuing drop in revenue, concerns about hate speech, getting users to pay and his plans to make longer videos on the platform. Twitter also started mass layoffs on the same day. He acknowledged that the price for Twitter was "high" and referred to a joke in the movie "The Godfather" in which he tried to get out of the deal, but "they pulled me back."
Musk expressed disappointment with advertisers who have suspended spending on the site. Twitter's content moderation practices have not changed, but advertisers have withdrawn funds, he said. He accused activist groups of pressuring advertisers to give up spending on Twitter.
"We've done our best to appease them, but nothing has worked," he said of militant groups. "This is a major issue, and frankly an attack on the First Amendment."
Musk was interviewed by billionaire investor Ron Baron, who founded the mutual fund company in the 1980s and has long been a Tesla Inc. (TSLA) shareholder. He was one of Musk's backers to take Twitter private, putting $100 million into the deal.
Musk did not detail Twitter's widespread layoffs on Friday, saying instead that Twitter had revenue challenges before his acquisition. He spoke at length about his subscription business model and plans to tackle hate speech.
He also touched on speculation that he would upend Twitter's free speech policies.
He said he wanted to be clear: Twitter's content moderation policy has not changed, and engaging in hateful conduct on Twitter is not allowed.
He said he wanted to execute on the plan he laid out more than 20 years ago when he helped create what is now PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL). The goal, he said, was to create a so-called super app called X.com. Super apps like WeChat, which has a huge user base in China, allow users to message others, send money to others, and other functions.
He said he would carry out the plan 22 years ago.
Musk talked about why he wants people to pay $7.99 a month for verified accounts, adding that users will get more than just a blue checkmark.
He said he plans to expand Twitter Blue's subscription to include long-form videos and podcasts. Twitter currently doesn't allow videos longer than 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
He also said that content from users who subscribe to the service will appear at the top of the page, above spam tweets. It currently costs less than a cent to make a bot account, he said. But under the Twitter Blue subscription model, having 100,000 fake accounts is now too expensive.
The goal, he said, is through Twitter, how to get 80 percent of the public to join the digital town square, expressing their views, exchanging ideas, and occasionally changing their minds?
Musk ended the interview by asking viewers to pay for Twitter.
Use Twitter, he said, and pay $8 to subscribe to a Twitter-authenticated account, which is actually $7.99, less than $8.
The Canadian office has also been hit by global layoffs orchestrated by new Twitter boss Elon Musk, with two top executives targeted for layoffs and have left.
Twitter Canada managing director Paul Burns and Twitter US Canada public policy director Michele Austin announced on social media on Friday that they were leaving the San Francisco-based tech giant.
Burns tweeted: "The last 4.5 years have been insane. Thank you to the people, friends, partners and Twitter users who have made this place so special, for all your adventures. Love you so much."
Burns joined Twitter in 2018 as the company's top job in Canada, and in recent years oversaw the creation of Twitter's first engineering hub in Canada.
Austin has also been at Twitter for a long time, holding a position that allows her to represent Twitter before government committees and help shape election policy.
Austin was "heartbroken" in announcing her firing.
“It’s been the best, wildest, most rewarding five years of my career,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “I loved every minute of it.”
This comes after multiple media outlets obtained a letter to employees on Thursday announcing that the layoffs will take place on Friday "to ensure the company's success moving forward."
All employees will receive an email on Friday, the letter said, in their work inboxes for those who are still working and in their private mailboxes for those who have left. received e-mail.
All of Twitter's offices will remain closed during the layoffs, and employees are asked to stay home, the notice said. The notice also reminds employees not to share confidential company information on social media, media or elsewhere.
"We acknowledge that this has been an extremely challenging experience whether you have been affected or not," the notice said.
"Thank you for your contributions to Twitter and for your patience in this process."
According to the technology media The Verge, Musk met with advisers including former PayPal executive David Sacks on the evening of the 2nd to finalize Twitter’s layoff plan, involving about 3,800 employees, or about 100% of the total number of employees. half. Two people familiar with the matter said the laid-off employees may receive 60 days of severance pay.
At the same time, Musk will also end Twitter's telecommuting policy, requiring employees to work in the office.
The controversial Twitter Blue paid subscription service will also go live as early as next week, in what could be the first major platform overhaul since Musk took the helm.
Musk also runs SpaceX and Tesla and holds Canadian citizenship. About a week ago, he bought Twitter for $44 billion.
Twitter first entered the Canadian market in 2013, when it announced it would open an office in Toronto, led by former CBC leader Kirstine Stewart.
