Musk to create his own smartphone if Apple, Google ban Twitter

It’s still early days for Elon Musk as Twitter’s new boss but the billionaire is ready to accept another challenge of building a whole new smartphone if it comes down to it.

On Saturday, Musk said he’s not opposed to the idea of creating his own smartphone if Apple and Google remove the app from their platforms.

His tweet was in response right-wing podcaster Liz Wheeler’s suggestion that he should create a new smartphone if ‘Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores’.

‘Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?’ said Wheeler in her tweet.

Musk responded by saying that he would make an alternative phone if there was ‘no other choice’.

I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022

He later went on to tweet that new user signups to the social media platform were at an ‘all-time high’ even as he struggles with a mass exodus of advertisers and users fleeing to other platforms over concerns about verification and hate speech.

Signups were averaging over two million per day in the last seven days as of 16 November, up 66% compared to the same week in 2021, Musk said in a tweet late on Saturday.

He also said that user active minutes were at a record high, averaging nearly 8 billion active minutes per day in the last seven days as of 15 November, an increase of 30% in comparison to the same week last year.

Hate speech impressions decreased as of 13 November compared to October of last year.

Reported impersonations on the platform spiked earlier this month, before and in wake of the Twitter Blue launch, according to Musk.

Slides from my Twitter company talk pic.twitter.com/8LLXrwylta

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2022

Musk, who also runs rocket company SpaceX, brain-chip startup Neuralink and tunnelling firm the Boring Company, has said that buying Twitter would speed up his ambition to create an ‘everything app’ called X.

The world’s richest man outlined his vision for a ‘Twitter 2.0 The Everything App’ that will have features like encrypted direct messages (DMs), long-form tweets and payments, according to the tweet.

Twitter is planning to roll out its new verification service this Friday with different coloured checks for individuals, companies and governments, after a botched initial launch led to a surge in users impersonating celebrities and brands on the platform.

On Friday, Musk tweeted that there would be three coloured checkmarks: gold for companies, grey for governments and a blue check for individuals including celebrities.

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