Elon Musk was interviewed by Chris Anderso, the head of TED where he talked about Twitter, Tesla, and other things. Elon Musk answered why he bought the platform and how he wants Twitter to get modified in the coming years. The interview can be an answer to what should we expect from Twitter and what changes can be made on the world’s largest open speech platform.
The interview was held just a day after Elon made the bid of $41 billion to buy Twitter and hence, Twitter seemed to be the focus topic of the interview.
When asked why he bought shares on Twitter, he was very clear with his idea. According to him, the US and the entire world have a right to open speech without any manipulation or restrictions and through Twitter, he wants to provide the same right of speech to the users.
He said- “I think it’s very important that there will be an inclusive arena for free speech”. He further added, -“Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square. It’s really important that people have the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely, within the bounds of the law”.
He pointed out where the platform lacks when it comes to open speech and how he thinks Twitter should be open about the algorithms and the factors that impact the tweets. He feels there should be no manipulation either algorithmically or manually.
He said, “The civilization risk will decrease the more we increase the trust on Twitter as a public platform.”
He disclosed his intention is not the acquire the platform entirely, but he’ll like to retain as many shareholders as are allowed by the law in a private company. He does not want to maximize his ownership of the platform. He does not see this as a way to make money but he wants to create a platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive which is crucial to the future of civilization. He said, “I don’t care for the economics at all.”
In the interview, he also talked about his perspective on open speech and how he thinks the right to open speech should be given without breaking restrictions applied by the law. When asked about how he is planning to manage the hate speech, he said, “If in doubt, let the speech exist,” followed by, I don’t have all the answers here”.
He said he would work on the cryptocurrency-related scams and finally add an edit button that is long-awaited.
In the interview, he talked about Tesla and said, “At this point in time, I think I know more about manufacturing than anyone currently alive on earth.” He disclosed his struggles with Tesla motors for three years to make it the brand it is today.
However, Tesla stocks dropped by $20 or 2% soon after Musk bought Twitter. The Tesla investors are worried about the Musk’s socks in Tesla and the impact it will have after buying Twitter.
In this interview, he also talked about sustainable energy and the need to empower sustainable energy. He also briefly described how his brain works and his love for programming in the early days.
