After Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised to buy social media company Twitter for $44 billion, Bill Gates warned that Elon Musk could make Twitter "worse," CNBC reported.
Speaking at the Wall Street Journal CEO Summit on Wednesday, Gates said it was unclear how Musk would change Twitter if it took ownership, while also raising concerns about the spread of disinformation on social media platforms.
The Microsoft co-founder acknowledged musk's impressive track record at other companies and praised his "exciting" moments at the helm of Tesla and SpaceX. Gates said he believes Musk has done a great job of assembling a great team of engineers for these companies.
"I'm a little skeptical that this time will not happen, but we should keep an open mind and never underestimate Elon," he said. ”
The tech billionaire's remarks came after Musk accused him of shorting Tesla stock last month. Musk also tweeted a vulgar joke about Gates, which CNBC decided not to publish. Gates said he didn't care about the insults.
In recent years, Gates has been replaced by Musk and is no longer the richest man in the world. Gates also questioned what Musk's purpose was in buying Twitter and whether his efforts to promote free speech were really wise.
Gates asked, "I don't know what he (Musk) thinks about some of the free and crazy remarks on Twitter, such as: Vaccines kill people or Bill Gates is using vaccines to track people." ”
Gates said, "What was his ultimate purpose [of acquiring Twitter]? Does his purpose coincide with the idea that less extreme lies and strange conspiracy theories spread so quickly? Does he identify with this himself? ”
Over the past few weeks, Musk has hinted that in addition to promoting free speech, he may seek ways to improve Twitter. Late Tuesday, for example, he said he might start charging "small" fees to companies using the platform.
Combat misinformation
Misinformation about vaccines spread rapidly on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some falsely claiming that Gates somehow implanted 5G chips into humans through vaccines in order to track their location.
Gates said, "It was so unexpected and so strange that now I'm back in the real world... People came up and shouted and protested. ”
He said it was "dangerous" when people "threw away" the critical tools used to save lives. He believes that people with social media platforms should play an important role in ensuring that the truth is shared effectively.
He acknowledged, "When we don't have a trusted leader talking publicly about vaccines, it's hard for platforms to maintain normal rhetoric." So I think we have both leadership and platform problems. ”
Gates said, "For these platforms to spread the truth, not crazy stuff, it takes some real invention." ”
The fact that information about the drug's efficacy can spread quickly and at a low price should be a blessing for humans, He added, Gates said, and then he called the legend about hydroxychloroquine "crazy."
"I can't explain," he said, "I don't think digital products are responsible for drug addictions that don't work." ”
Gates said he plans to create a social media unit of 3,000 people to help spread accurate vaccine information in the future. He stressed that "good information" needs to be held accountable by trusted people in the community.
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