Twitter boss Elon Musk has threatened to sue Microsoft over accusations that the tech giant is using data from his social media company without permission.
“They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time,” said the multi-billionaire said in a tweet.
Mr Musk was responding to Microsoft’s plan to remove Twitter from its corporate advertising platform.
He provided no further details or evidence to support the claim.
Microsoft declined to comment when addressed by the BBC on Thursday.
Earlier, the company said in a statement that its advertising platform “will no longer support Twitter” as of Tuesday, April 25.
As a result, ad buyers would not be able to access their Twitter accounts through Microsoft’s social management tool.
“Other social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn will continue to be available,” Microsoft said.
Twitter’s press email responded to a query with a customary poo emoji.
In a separate tweetDiscussing the social media platform’s data, Mr Musk said he was “open to ideas”.
“But tearing down the Twitter database, demonstrating it (removing ads) and then selling our data to others is not a successful solution,” he added.
In February, Twitter began charging for data collected from “hundreds of millions” of users, with a basic plan starting at $100 per month.
The data allows users to “manage and track every aspect of your social media presence,” according to platform.
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Since buying Twitter for $44bn (£35.4bn) in October, Mr Musk has reduced his workforce by around 80% and bolstered the company’s finances through measures including charging for the ‘blue tick’ -Verification.
Major companies, including iPhone maker Apple, have reportedly stopped advertising on the platform in recent months over concerns about moderation of content on the site.
In November, Mr Musk said Twitter had seen a “massive” drop in revenue and accused activists of pressuring advertisers.
Speaking to the BBC last week, he said Twitter had just months to live when he took over. He also said that “almost all of the advertisers have come back or said they will come back” to Twitter.
Mr Musk added that Twitter could be profitable by the second quarter of 2023 and he would be willing to sell the company if the right person came along.
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