Elon Musk hits out at Apple – and claims tech giant threatened to block Twitter from App Store
New Twitter owner Elon Musk has hit out at Apple – claiming it has threatened to block his social network from its app store without explanation.
The world’s richest man, who took the company private last month for $44bn (£36.7bn), also said the iPhone maker has “mostly stopped advertising” on his platform.
Musk wrote in a tweet: “Do they hate free speech in America?”
And he also said in a message that tagged Apple‘s chief executive Tim Cook: “What’s going on here?”
Apple was Twitter’s biggest advertiser in the first quarter of this year – spending $48m (£40m) on ads on the social network.
This accounted for 4% of the company’s revenue in that period, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal Twitter document.
The world’s most valuable firm spent an estimated $131,600 (£110,000) on Twitter ads between 10 and 16 November – down from $220,800 (£184,000) between 16 and 22 October, the week before Musk closed the Twitter deal, according to ad measurement firm Pathmatics.
If the company was to block Twitter from its app store, new users would not be able to download the Twitter app on their iPhones and iPads, and existing users would be unable to access updates.
Among the list of grievances tweeted by Musk was the 30% fee that Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, with Musk posting a meme suggesting he was willing to “go to war” with the tech giant rather than paying the commission.
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment following Musk’s outspoken comments.
The commission fee could affect his attempts to increase subscription revenue at Twitter, in part to make up for the exodus of advertisers over content moderation concerns.
Musk earlier this month said his company had seen a “massive” drop in revenue.
Companies including food firm General Mills and car maker Audi of America have stopped or paused advertising on Twitter since the acquisition.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook
Musk has laid off thousands of workers, with cuts expected to have a significant impact on content moderation.
The billionaire boss of Twitter and Tesla claimed Apple was pressuring Twitter over moderation demands.
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The alleged action, not confirmed by Apple, wouldn’t be unusual as the company has routinely enforced its rules and previously removed apps such as Parler.
Parler, which is popular with US conservatives, was restored by Apple in 2021 after the app updated its content and moderation practices.
Federal air safety regulators have opened a fresh investigation into the Boeing 787 Dreamliner – after the firm said several employees had committed “misconduct” by falsely claiming tests had been completed.
The probe will look into whether Boeing completed inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings of certain 787 Dreamliner planes join the fuselage, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
The investigation will also look at “whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records”, the US federal government agency added.
The FAA said Boeing is “reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet” while the investigation is taking place.
Boeing shares were down 1.5% at $177.03 late on Monday afternoon.
‘Several people not performing required test’
In an email from 29 April, Scott Stocker, who leads Boeing’s 787 program, said that an employee saw what appeared to be an irregularity in a required 787 conformance test.
Mr Stocker wrote that after receiving the report “we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed”.
In the email, addressed to employees in South Carolina where the 787 is assembled, Mr Stocker said Boeing promptly informed the FAA about what it had learned and said it is taking serious corrective action with “multiple” employees.
He added that “our engineering team has assessed that this misconduct did not create an immediate safety of flight issue”.
‘They are putting out defective airplanes’
It comes weeks after a Congressional investigation in April heard evidence on the safety culture and manufacturing standards at Boeing.
Sam Salehpour, a quality engineer at the company, told members of a Senate subcommittee that Boeing was taking shortcuts to bolster production levels that could lead to jetliners breaking apart.
He said of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which has more than 1,000 in use across airlines globally including at British Airways, that excessive force was used to jam together sections of fuselage.
He claimed the extra force could compromise the carbon-composite material used for the plane’s frame.
“They are putting out defective airplanes,” he concluded, while adding that he was threatened when he raised concerns about the issue.
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Boeing quality engineer Sam Salehpour testifies during the Senate homeland security subcommittee hearing. Pic: AP
The engineer said he studied Boeing’s own data and concluded that the company is “taking manufacturing shortcuts on the 787 programme that could significantly reduce the airplanes’ safety and the life cycle”.
Boeing denied his claims surrounding both the Dreamliner’s structural integrity and that factory workers jumped on sections of fuselage to force them to align.
Two Boeing engineering executives said this week that its testing and inspections regimes have found no signs of fatigue or cracking in the composite panels, saying they were almost impervious to fatigue.
Boeing has been grappling with a months-long safety crisis since a panel blew out of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane mid-flight in January.
The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the mid-air emergency.
The National Transportation Safety Board has said four key bolts appeared to be missing from the plane.
Boeing has said it believes required documents detailing the removal of the bolts were never created.
A US soldier was detained in Russia over the weekend while on a private trip, according to officials.
The soldier, who hasn’t been named, has been accused of stealing from a woman, Sky News’ US partner network, NBC News, reported, citing four US officials.
The White House is aware of reports of an American soldier being detained in Russia, national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday.
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The soldier was arrested in the port city of Vladivostok on 2 May, “on charges of criminal misconduct,” US army spokesperson Cynthia O Smith said.
He had reportedly been stationed in South Korea and travelled to Russia for a personal trip and not on official duty, according to the US officials.
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“The Russian Federation notified the US Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Ms Smith said.
“The army notified his family and the US Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the soldier in Russia.
“Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”
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