Will they or won’t they? I’m not talking about the clichéd dance of a romcom duo that hangs in the balance, but rather the clash of tech-leviathans, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg’s infamous cage fight (or lack thereof).
X né Twitter owner Musk has found himself in a digital duel with Meta CEO Zuckerberg over a Twitter doppelgänger dubbed Threads. The discord traces its roots back over two months to an internal meeting leak, where Meta’s chief product officer called it a “sanely run” alternative.
In the most recent installment of the Silicon Valley saga, Musk declared the battle was in motion, pledging the proceeds to veterans. Following this, Musk shared a screenshot of texts between himself and Zuckerberg, showing the Meta chief in a state of exasperation amid Musk’s unrelenting public theatrics.
“If you still want to do a real MMA fight, then you should train on your own and let me know when you’re ready to compete,” Zuckerberg wrote. “I don’t want to keep hyping something that will never happen, so you should either decide you’re going to do this and do it soon, or we should move on.”
In typical Musk fashion, he responded that he hasn’t done much training except with popular tech podcaster Lex Fridman, but that he could totally dominate Zuckerberg in his backyard octagon on Monday in Palo Alto.
Musk later claimed he’d test Tesla’s full self-driving feature by inputting Zuckerberg’s address, saying he’d simply show up to his house and declare a duel whether he liked it or not. Oh, and of course, he’d live stream it all on X. Naturally, neither of them were even in town that day according to the Platformer newsletter, continuing the utter pointlessness of the whole charade.
As the sun rose on Tuesday, the anticipated spectacle remained but a mirage. Before this, Zuckerberg took to Threads, advising everyone to take Musk’s word with a pound of salt, a point only compounded by Musk’s histrionics on Monday.
Since Meta and Twitter are what I cover, I get asked quite frequently nowadays whether this fight will happen or not. My answer continues to be: I highly doubt it, though the audacity of their attempt would be a sight to behold. While Zuckerberg is clearly well trained, he seems to recognize that Musk’s motivation lies more in leveraging the spectacle to fuel traffic and headlines rather than a genuine penchant for mixed martial arts.
Evident to even the most casual observers of this tech tango is the remarkable facelift it has given to Zuckerberg’s public persona. It was not long ago when Zuckerberg was cast as Silicon Valley’s villain following the Cambridge Analytica debacle, which revealed that Facebook was improperly obtaining the private data of millions of users. Zuck then poured billions of dollars into his version of the “metaverse,” only to be met with a chorus of disapproving comments about the underwhelming avatars that wandered without legs (and sent the firm’s market cap spiraling).
Now, Zuckerberg is standing up against one of the valley’s arguably most unlikeable entrepreneurs, Musk, who has not shied away from giving a stage to perilous conspiracy theories and regularly interacts with a far-right account predominantly sharing content propagating anti-Black racism and pseudoscientific notions related to race. Many online spectators are eagerly awaiting Musk getting his butt kicked, and Zuckerberg’s balanced enthusiasm to follow through appears to have earned him newfound support.
Again, I find it incredibly unlikely any of this will actually happen. Should the stars align and contrive this theatrical showdown, rest assured my editor and I will have front-row seats, popcorn at the ready.
Here’s what else is going on in tech today.
Kylie Robison
Want to send thoughts or suggestions to Data Sheet? Drop a line here.
NEWSWORTHY
YouTube targets snake oil. YouTube is planning to eliminate content that promotes "harmful or ineffective" cancer cures and medical misinformation, which aligns with the company’s prior initiatives to counter vaccine misinformation, the Verge reported. YouTube will enforce rules in high-risk scenarios with guidance from health authorities, aiming for flexibility in covering medical topics while balancing harm reduction. Additionally, YouTube's policy extends to addressing unsafe abortion methods and debunking spurious assertions concerning abortion safety.
X shifts advertising strategy. X, formerly Twitter, informs advertisers that they can no longer promote ads on the timeline that fish for new followers, Axios reported. "Follower Objective" ads, yielding $100 million annually, were common but lacked the multimedia appeal that X now seeks. While the ads represent a minor part of the company’s revenue, X is doing away with them at a time when it needs all the revenue it can get and remains unprofitable.
Amazon devices chief departs. Amazon's devices chief, David Limp, is set to retire, joining a string of long-standing executives who have left under CEO Andy Jassy, the Wall Street Journal reported. During his 13-year tenure, Limp managed Amazon's Alexa and other services, which have become iconic—but financially-challenged—products. Despite selling more than 500 million units, Amazon's Echo devices often lacked profits.
ON OUR FEED
“Mark takes this sport seriously and isn’t going to fight someone who randomly shows up at his door.”
—Meta spokesperson Iska Saric told tech reporter Casey Newton regarding Elon Musk claiming to show up to his Palo Alto home for a cage fight
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Caroline Ellison kept a memo called ‘Things Sam Is Freaking Out About,’ and prosecutors plan to use it against the FTX founder, by Leo Schwartz
Business travel, just like almost everything from pre-COVID life, is going back to normal, by Chris Morris
Elon Musk styles his leadership on French dictator Napoleon and sees himself as a ‘general on the battlefield,’ his biographer says, by Chloe Taylor
BEFORE YOU GO
WeCrashed again. WeWork, which operates as a global provider of flexible office spaces, is once again in peril. The company warned of a possible bankruptcy due to losses totaling $700 million in the first half of 2023.
Fortune's Rachyl Jones took a plunge into the concerns of WeWork's vast membership, which exceeds 700,000 individuals relying on its offerings. Should the company tread the path of bankruptcy, members might find themselves on the brink of eviction, as their contracts could be nullified. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy code might offer a lifeline through restructuring, but for leases that WeWork abandons, the fate of WeWork members will be in the hands of landlords. What’s more, the specific verbiage of individual contracts will dictate whether these folks even get their deposits back.
In the event that landlords decide not to provide short-term leases or co-working spaces for WeWork members left in the lurch, Jones writes, the affected members might just find themselves battling it out in court. While their contract with WeWork might not carry the official "lease" label, they could spin the tale that the very essence of the pact places them in lease-worthy territory, regardless of nomenclature.
This is the web version of Data Sheet, a daily newsletter on the business of tech. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
