Twitter Accuses Microsoft of Improperly Using Its Data - The New York Times


Twitter has accused Microsoft of violating a data agreement, using more Twitter data than permitted, and sharing it with government agencies without consent, potentially leading to legal action.
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Twitter on Thursday sent a letter to Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, accusing the tech giant of improperly using the social media company’s data.

In the letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times, Twitter said Microsoft had violated an agreement over its data and had declined to pay for that usage. In some cases, the letter said, Microsoft had used more Twitter data than it was supposed to. Microsoft also shared the Twitter data with government agencies without permission, the letter said.

“Microsoft may have been in violation of multiple provisions of the agreement for an extended period of time,” Alex Spiro, the personal lawyer for Elon Musk, who owns Twitter, wrote in the letter to Mr. Nadella.

The letter may be a prelude to Twitter trying to charge Microsoft for its data. Mr. Musk, who bought Twitter last year for $44 billion, has said that it is urgent for the company to make money and that it is near bankruptcy. Twitter has since introduced new subscription products and made other moves to gain more revenue. In March, the company said it would charge more for developers to gain access to its stream of tweets.

Last month, Mr. Musk publicly called out Microsoft for “illegally” using Twitter’s data to train its artificial intelligence technologies. “Lawsuit time,” he tweeted at the time.

Microsoft said it did not currently pay Twitter for its data. Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, said the company had received Twitter’s letter and would review the questions and respond. “We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with the company,” he said.

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