Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘cannot move forward’ until CEO proves his claim of low bot rate

The controversial bid to buy Twitter by Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has hit a stumbling block over disputes regarding how many Twitter accounts are actually bots.

Musk declared via a tweet on Tuesday morning that the buyout “cannot move forward” until Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, is able to “prove” his claim that less than 5 percent of Twitter’s accounts are bots – AI-controlled auto-tweeters used to spam and promote scams, essentially cause mischief, and serve to inflate the ideological objects of foreign agents.

On Monday, Agrawal had posted to Twitter a long thread regarding bot accounts, saying that he didn’t believe an accurate “estimation can be performed externally,” due to the “need to use both public and private information” that cannot be published over privacy laws and concerns:

Musk’s immediate response to this thread was to post… a poop emoji.

The exchange comes as the latest blow to the purchase, casting further doubts as to whether the deal will even happen at all. The most recent controversy over the percentage of bot accounts began last week when Musk announced that his plan to buy Twitter was “suspended” due to concerns about the bots. If the social media giant is indeed comprised of bots to the tune of 20 percent or more, that would significantly impact the estimated value of the company, both in terms of a purchase price and the likely market cap.

However, Musk said in that same Twitter thread that he was ” still committed to acquisition” of the company:

The immediate impact of Musk’s statement last week was that during pre-market trading, Twitter shares sank 11 percent, while Tesla stock rose 4.9 percent during the same period.

There has been debate as to whether or not Musk is even seriously interested in buying Twitter. Musk can be a little… odd… at times (particularly in his most recent choice of baby names). It’s anybody’s guess if he is serious or simply enjoying the drama.

There are also questions as to whether he can realistically make the purchase, given that shareholders aren’t lining up behind him, and there are some questions of whether or not he has the liquid assets to sign such a check, and given Musk’s own doubts about whether or not he can pull it off (though insisting he has the financial assets required.)

Either way, the drama that has gripped the Twitterverse isn’t likely to go away any time soon.

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