Musk says Twitter deal could move forward with ‘bot’ info – Boston News, Weather, Sports

Elon Musk said Saturday that his proposed $44 billion acquisition of Twitter should move forward if the company can confirm some details about how it measures whether user accounts are “spam bots” or real people.

The billionaire and Tesla CEO tried to withdraw its April deal to buy the social media company is leading Twitter to do so sue him last month to complete the acquisition. Musk counteredwho accused Twitter of misleading its team about the true size of its user base and other issues, which it said constituted fraud and breach of contract.

Both sides are on the way to a trial in October in a Delaware court.

“If Twitter simply provides their method of testing 100 accounts and confirming they are genuine, the deal should go ahead on the original terms,” ​​Musk tweeted early Saturday. “However, if their SEC filings are found to be materially false, it should not be.”

Twitter declined comment on Saturday. The company has repeatedly disclosed an estimate to the Securities and Exchange Commission that less than 5% of user accounts are fake or spam, suggesting it could be higher. Musk waived his right to further due diligence when signing the merger agreement in April.

Twitter has argued in court that Musk is deliberately trying to undermine the deal because market conditions have deteriorated and the acquisition no longer serves his interests. In a Thursday court filing it describes its counterclaims as a made-up story “contrary to evidence and common sense”.

“Musk fabricates representations that Twitter never made, and then seeks to selectively use the extensive confidential data Twitter provided to him to conjure up a breach of those alleged representations,” the company’s attorneys wrote.

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