Deirdre O Meara Twitter CEO Elon Musk has announced that the social media company is “roughly breaking even,” as the majority of its advertisers have returned and its cost-cutting measures have begun to bear fruit after significant layoffs. In an interview with BBC broadcast live on Twitter Spaces, Musk revealed that Twitter now has about 1,500 employees, down from “just under 8,000 staff members” before he took over in October. However, sources have revealed that Twitter’s layoffs have included many engineers responsible for fixing and preventing service outages, leading to chaos and uncertainty. Last week, Twitter suffered a bug that prevented thousands of users from accessing links, its sixth major outage since the start of the year, according to internet watchdog group NetBlocks. Musk acknowledged these glitches, including recent outages, but said they have not lasted very long. He added that Twitter was in a $3 billion negative cash flow situation and had to take drastic actions, referring to its large-scale layoffs. “We could be cash-flow positive this quarter if things go well,” he said in the interview that attracted more than three million listeners, adding the company currently has all-time high user numbers.
Despite its recent struggles, Musk said that Twitter has been able to recover from a massive decline in advertising since his acquisition. He explained that the decline was due to the cyclical nature of ad spending and some of which was “political”. However, Musk stated that most of its advertisers have returned, and the company is now on track to break even. The billionaire, who also runs electric car maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, said he has no one in mind to succeed him as Twitter chief executive.
In other news, OpenAI, the firm behind chatbot sensation ChatGPT, has announced that it will offer up to $20,000 to users reporting vulnerabilities in its artificial intelligence systems. The OpenAI Bug Bounty program, which went live on Tuesday, will offer rewards to people based on the severity of the bugs they report, with rewards starting from $200 per vulnerability. Technology companies often use bug bounty programs to encourage programmers and ethical hackers to report bugs in their software systems. The program does not include incorrect or malicious content produced by OpenAI systems.
The move comes as OpenAI faces increasing scrutiny over the safety and ethical implications of its AI systems. In recent years, there have been growing concerns over the potential misuse of AI, particularly in the areas of facial recognition, deepfakes, and autonomous weapons. OpenAI has been at the forefront of developing advanced AI systems, including GPT-3, a language model that can write coherent and grammatical sentences. However, the company has also faced criticism over the potential misuse of its technology, particularly in the areas of disinformation and propaganda.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that the bug bounty program is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to ensure the safety and security of its AI systems. “At OpenAI, we take security very seriously, and we believe that bug bounty programs are an important tool for keeping our systems safe and secure,” he said. “We encourage researchers and ethical hackers to participate in our program and help us identify any vulnerabilities in our AI systems.” Altman added that the company is committed to responsible AI development and will continue to work with policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders to ensure that its technology is used for the benefit of society.
The OpenAI Bug Bounty program is open to anyone who reports a vulnerability in one of the company’s AI systems. Rewards will be based on the severity of the bug, with higher rewards offered for more severe vulnerabilities. The program is part of a growing trend among technology companies to use bug bounty programs to improve the security and safety of their products. Other companies that have launched similar programs include Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
In conclusion, Twitter CEO Elon Musk has announced that the company is “roughly breaking even” after a significant decline in advertising revenue and aggressive cost-cutting measures. Despite recent glitches and outages, Musk remains optimistic about the company’s future and its ability to recover. Meanwhile, OpenAI has launched a bug bounty program to encourage researchers and ethical hackers to report vulnerabilities in its AI systems. The move comes as the company faces increasing scrutiny over the safety and ethical implications of its technology.
