Elon Musk Threatens Legal Action Against Microsoft for Training AI

On April 19, Twitter CEO Elon Musk took to the social media

platform to call out Microsoft, accusing the tech giant of illegally training its artificial intelligence (AI) on Twitter data. 

His comments came in response to reports that Microsoft had decided to cease support for Twitter on its online social advertising tools, Smart Campaigns and Multi-platform, with the decision believed to have been prompted by the soaring costs of Twitter's API fees.

Twitter's API fees have surged from $0 to as much as $200,000 per month, leaving Microsoft with little choice but to wind down support. The move will mean that Microsoft's customers will no longer be able to access their Twitter accounts through its tools, nor will they be able to create, manage, view, and schedule tweets.

Musk's accusations that Microsoft trained its AI on Twitter data have not been substantiated, and the company has declined to comment on his claims. However, this is not the first time that Musk has raised concerns about the use of AI in the tech industry.

The cost of Twitter's API fees has hit academics particularly hard, with over 17,500 academic papers based on Twitter data since 2020. Many researchers have been priced out of accessing the data they need to conduct their studies.

Microsoft’s Take on the Development

Despite the challenges posed by rising development costs, Microsoft is reportedly developing its own AI chips to power ChatGPT. This move may be seen as an attempt to reduce reliance on OpenAI and bring down costs in-house.

With a market capitalization of $2.15 trillion, Microsoft is currently the second-largest company in the world after Apple. While Musk's allegations against the company remain unproven, they highlight the challenges faced by companies operating in the rapidly evolving AI space.

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