Digital
Twitter sues Elon Musk for breaching $44 bn deal, he reacts with a meme
Mumbai: Tesla CEO Elon Musk was quick to react to a lawsuit filed against him by Twitter for breaching the $44 billion contract in his trademark maverick style – with a meme.
Twitter recently sued the billionaire for violating the deal to buy the micro blogging platform, accusing him of hypocrisy and asked a Delaware court to order Musk to complete the merger at the agreed $54.20 per Twitter share, according to a court filing.
“Musk apparently believes that he – unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law – is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away,” stated the lawsuit.
“Twitter brings this action to enjoin Musk from further breaches, to compel Musk to fulfil his legal obligations, and to compel consummation of the merger upon satisfaction of the few outstanding conditions,” Twitter asserted in the lawsuit.
In response to the news of the lawsuit, Musk took to the microblogging site and simply tweeted, “Oh the irony lol.” Earlier, he had responded to reports of Twitter taking him to court with a hilarious meme which seemed to take potshots at the social media giant’s decision.”
The meme, accompanied by images of a laughing Musk, read: They said I cannot buy Twitter. Then they wouldn’t disclose bot info. Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court. Now they have to disclose both info in court.
The lawsuit could be the beginning of a long-drawn-out legal battle with both parties unwilling to climb down from their stances, as Twitter seeks to hold Musk to his deal to pay $44 billion for the company. The litigation accused Musk of “a long list” of violations of the merger agreement that “have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.”
Last week, the Tesla CEO said he was terminating the merger because Twitter violated the agreement by failing to respond to requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platforms. Musk said the lack of information about spam accounts and inaccurate representations amounted to a “material adverse event.”
The standoff between the two parties has been ongoing for a while now, specifically since April this year when Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at $54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion. Since then, however, Musk has been challenging Twitter’s claim that less than five per cent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam, even putting the deal on hold in May to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter’s claim.
ALSO READ | The Twitter-Elon Musk tussle: To be ‘bot’ or not to be
In June, Musk had openly accused the social media company of breaching the merger agreement and threatened to walk away and call off the acquisition of the micro blogging site for not providing the data he has requested on spam and fake accounts.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
