Science & Tech

There's a theory Elon Musk had a secret plan when he bought Twitter

There's a theory Elon Musk had a secret plan when he bought Twitter
Apple Has 'Threatened To Withhold Twitter' From the App Store, Says Elon …
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There’s been another development in Elon Musk’s time as Twitter CEO – and some people are starting to get a little conspiratorial about the whole thing.

In case you missed it, Musk is on the warpath with Apple after hitting out at them with memes and tweets over recent days.

The billionaire accused the company of threatening to "withhold Twitter from its App Store" and ceasing advertising on Twitter. "Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?" Musk wrote.

Recent developments at the social media company have seen US non-profit Media Matters for America reporting that half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have stopped ads on the platform.

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It led conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler to tweet: “If Apple and Google boot Twitter from their app stores, Elon Musk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone and Android.

“The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”

Does Musk have a secret plan?Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

Musk later replied: “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.”

After Musk made the claim, some started to suggest that this could have been Musk’s intention all along.

There have been unconfirmed reports over the last two years that Tesla has been working on a smartphone, rumoured to be called the Model Pi. Musk, however, has never spoken openly on the subject.

The latest development has led many to speculate on social media that he could be preparing to go public with the plans soon.

Former marine Jason Nelson wrote: “It would be insane if it turns out @elonmusk had a long game of buying Twitter- knowing apple & Android would drop him- to launch a secret phone he had made two years ago, making his $44B Twitter investment into a $300B phone company.”

Another replied: “We have been hearing about a Tesla phone for some years now. I'm sure he is fanning the flames bc he has one ready to go.”

Another asked: “Is/or @elonmusk contemplating his Mobile device now, or was it the plan all along?”

For now, only Musk himself can really answer that question.

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