Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Shot of Elon Musk

Elon Musk says he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and 'resolved the misunderstanding' after several tweets attacking the company

Elon Musk recently called out Apple's Tim Cook for pulling ads off of Twitter, but the two tech titans have seemingly mended fences.
Tesla billionaire Elon Musk said he met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday, adding another chapter to a strange and contentious week between the two tech titans.  

“Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple’s beautiful HQ,” Musk wrote in a tweet, including a video of a large pond, with two shadows standing in the foreground. 

He followed it up with another tweet just a few hours later.

“Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”

The two peaceful tweets capped off several more aggressive missives from Musk, who repeatedly called out Apple this week, and at times Cook specifically, over claims that the tech giant stopped advertising on Twitter, threatened to remove it from its app store, and overcharged companies. (Both Apple and Twitter did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.)

On Monday, Musk tweeted that Apple had cut off most of its advertising on Twitter. Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter in the first quarter of this year, spending $48 million on ads, according to the The Washington Post. Apple ads accounted for 4% of Twitter’s revenue that quarter.

“Do they hate free speech in America?” He wrote, adding, “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”

Twitter has lost several major advertisers since Musk took over the company last month, including Pfizer, Volkswagen, and Chipotle. Recent reporting from tech newsletter Platformer revealed that weekly ad bookings for the company are down nearly 50%, and revenue in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa is down 15%. 

But advertising is just one part of Musk’s problem with Apple. He claimed in another Monday tweet that the company “threatened to withhold” Twitter’s app from its app store, but “won’t tell us why.” 

Advertisers and companies have been distancing themselves from Musk’s Twitter since he began implementing changes at the company earlier this month, largely in response to Musk’s decision to cut most of the platform’s content moderation team and the consequent rise of hate speech observed on the site. 

Getting kicked out of the app store would be a major blow to the social media platform, which is already enduring a period of extreme tumult. Musk has so far laid off around 50% of Twitter’s staff in an effort to cut costs, with hundreds resigning in recent weeks as the new CEO brings his trademark “hardcore” work ethic and management style to the company. 

Musk went on to denounce Apple’s “secret 30% tax on everything” in yet another tweet on Monday, referring to the percentage of profits that the company takes from app store sales. Musk may have also delayed relaunching the platform’s Twitter Blue subscription service so that the feature could be re-tooled as an in-app purchase, and avoid Apple’s fee. 

The fee Apple receives from app downloads is well-known among tech companies, with Spotify and Facebook parent Meta having criticized Apple for the percentage cut in the past.

Epic Games, the publisher of popular videogame Fortnite, even took Apple to court last year over the embedded fee. Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney has criticized Apple’s model as a “monopoly” and recently sided with Musk on the issues between Apple and Twitter.

“Apple is a menace to freedom worldwide,” Sweeney wrote on Twitter this week. “They maintain an illegal monopoly on app distribution, they use it to control American discourse, and they’re endangering protesters in China by storing sensitive customer data in a state-owned data center.”

Billing startup Paddle also took Apple to court last year over its payment system, and its CEO Christian Owens recently welcomed Musk as an ally in their case. “It points to how egregious the 30% fee is. I’m glad Elon is in the fight,” Owens told Insider this week.

A pondside meeting at Apple HQ will likely not be enough for Musk to accept Apple’s download fee, although Owens and other CEOs dissatisfied with Apple might soon find him not to be the most reliable ally.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Hungary Ranked Among the World’s Safest Travel Destinations for 2025
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Man Convicted of Fraud After Booking Over 120 Free Flights Posing as Flight Attendant
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Beata Thunberg Rebrands as Beata Ernman Amidst Sister's Activism Controversy
Hungarian Parliament Approves Citizenship Suspension Law
Prime Minister Orbán Criticizes EU's Ukraine Accession Plans
Hungarian Delicacies Introduced to Japanese Market
Hungary's Industrial Output Rises Amid Battery Sector Slump
President Sulyok Celebrates 15 Years of Hungarian Unity Efforts
Hungary's Szeleczki Shines at World Judo Championships
Visegrád Construction Trends Diverge as Hungary Lags
Hungary Hosts National Quantum Technology Workshop
Hungarian Animation Featured at Annecy Festival
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
UK and EU Reach New Economic Agreement
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Austrian School Shooting Leaves Nine Dead in Graz
Bezos's Lavish Venice Wedding Sparks Local Protests
Europe Prepares for Historic Lunar Rover Landing
Italian Parents Seek Therapy Amid Lengthy School Holidays
British Fishing Vessel Seized by France Fined €30,000
Dutch Government Collapses Amid Migration Policy Dispute
UK Commits to 3.5% GDP Defence Spending Under NATO Pressure
Germany Moves to Expedite Migrant Deportations
US Urges UK to Raise Defence Spending to 5% of GDP
Israeli Forces Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Vessel Carrying Greta Thunberg
IMF Warns of Severe Global Trade War Impacts on Emerging Markets
Low Turnout Jeopardizes Italy's Citizenship Reform Referendum
Transatlantic Interest Rate Divergence Widens as Trump Pressures Powell
EU Lawmaker Calls for Broader Exemptions in Supply Chain Legislation
France's Defense Spending Plans Threatened by High National Debt
European Small-Cap Stocks Outperform U.S. Rivals Amid Growth Revival
Switzerland Proposes $26 Billion Capital Increase for UBS
×