Tag: linda yaccarino

X Video Calling Support Confirmed by CEO Linda Yaccarino as Elon Musk-Led Firm Expands Functionality

X video calls are coming to the app in the future, the platform’s CEO has confirmed in an interview. The Elon Musk-led microblogging website formerly known as Twitter is working on adding support for new features as part of the billionaire’s plan to turn X into an “everything app”. Users will be able to make video calls without sharing their phone number, a feature offered by rivals like Facebook and Instagram where account usernames are used to connect with other users.

During a recent CNBC interview, X CEO Linda Yaccarino confirmed that the platform would add support for video calling soon. The upcoming feature will allow X users to “make video chat calls without having to give your phone number to anyone on the platform,” she stated. Yaccarino also told CNBC that she had “autonomy” to run the company under Musk, and that their roles were “very clear”.

Last month, X employee Andrea Conway shared two screenshots of what appears to be the X video calling UI on iOS. The first screen shows a phone receiver icon at the top right corner of the screen inside a direct messages chat that shows a pop-up menu with options for audio and video calls. The second screen shows a video calling screen with four buttons: speaker, mute, video, and end call.

The screengrabs shared by Conway are over a month old, so it is possible that the X video calls interface could look a little different when the feature is rolled out to users. On Thursday, Conway posted that she had “just called someone on X”. Neither Yaccarino nor Conway have revealed when the feature will be rolled out to users.

In June, Yaccarino told investors that X — the platform was still called Twitter at the time — would focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships as part of efforts to make the service more competitive with other social media platforms. At the time, Yaccarino’s presentation reportedly revealed that over 10 percent of user activity on Twitter was spent on watching vertical videos.

The service recently began sharing ad revenue with eligible creators on the platform. On Friday, the support account for X announced that the firm was lowering the eligibility threshold for ads revenue sharing from 15 million impressions over three months to 5 million impressions. Users who have an X Premium — formerly known as Twitter Blue — subscription and meet the service’s requirements will be able to receive minimum payouts of $10 (roughly Rs. 830) — down from $50 (roughly Rs. 4,100) — according to the platform.

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Elon Musk Takes Product and Engineering Chief Role at X, Yaccarino to Lead All Other Divisions

X owner Elon Musk and Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino will both oversee the trust and safety team at the company formerly known as Twitter, the social media concern said on Monday.

X’s product and engineering team will report to Musk, while Yaccarino will oversee all other divisions, including human resources, legal, finance, sales and operations, X said.

The trust and safety team, which is responsible for content moderation, has been the focus of some criticism of the platform after Musk acquired the company last October. Researchers have accused X of relaxing content guard rails, leading to a spike in harmful posts. The company has said the majority of content views are of “healthy” posts.

In an email to X employees on Monday, which was shared with Reuters, Yaccarino said the company is searching for a new leader for brand safety and suitability.

The previous head of brand safety, A.J. Brown, who worked on efforts to prevent advertisements from appearing next to unsuitable content, left the company last month.

Yaccarino said in the email that three X leaders will oversee different responsibilities within trust and safety, including law enforcement operations and threat disruptions.

The changes to trust and safety come after Ella Irwin resigned as head of the team in June.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company’s new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Elon Musk Says X, Formerly Twitter, Reaches ‘New High’ With Over 540 Million Monthly Users

Elon Musk said on Friday that monthly users of social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, reached a “new high” and shared a graph that showed the latest count as over 540 million.

Musk’s post on X about the user figures comes as the company goes through organisational changes and looks to boost advertising revenue which has dropped in the recent month.

It is also the latest in a series of comments from X’s executives claiming strong traction in usage, after Meta Platforms launched a direct competing platform called Threads on July 5.

Twitter had 229 million monthly active users in May 2022, according to a statement made before Musk’s purchase of the firm in October. Musk posted in November that X had 259.4 million daily active users.

Since taking over, Musk has swiftly moved through a number of product and organizational changes. The company rolled out the verified blue tick as a paid service and has started sharing a cut of the ad sales with select content creators on the platform.

In May, Musk named former NBCUniversal advertising chief Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X, signalling that ad sales were a priority even as the platform worked to increase the subscription revenue.

Musk said earlier this month that X’s cash flow was negative because of a nearly 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load, without offering details.

Meanwhile, Musk’s decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta and Microsoft already have intellectual property rights to the same letter.

X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges – and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future.

“There’s a 100 percent chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody,” said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries.

Owners of trademarks – which protect things like brand names, logos and slogans that identify sources of goods – can claim infringement if other branding would cause consumer confusion. Remedies range from monetary damages to blocking use.

Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms – whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival – owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter “X” for fields including software and social media.

Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter’s X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said.

The three companies did not respond to requests for comment.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company’s new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Twitter Cash Flow Still Negative Because of 50 Percent Drop in Ad Revenue, Heavy Debt: Elon Musk

Twitter’s cash flow remains negative because of a nearly 50 percent drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load, Elon Musk said on Saturday, falling short of his expectation in March that Twitter could reach cash flow positive by June.

“Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else,” Musk said in a tweet replying to suggestions on recapitalization.

This is the latest sign that the aggressive cost-cutting measures since Musk acquired Twitter in October alone are not enough to get Twitter to cash flow positive, and suggests Twitter’s ad revenue may have not recovered as fast as Musk suggested in an interview in April with the BBC that most advertisers had returned to the site.

After laying off thousands of employees and cutting cloud service bills, Musk had said the company reduced its non-debt expenditures to $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,300 crore) from a projected $4.5 billion (roughly Rs. 37,000 crore) in 2023. Twitter also faces annual interest payments of about $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,300 crore) as a result of the debt it took on in the $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,61,400 crore) deal that turned the company private.

It is unclear what time frame Musk was referring to by the 50 percent drop in ad revenue. He has said Twitter was on track to post $3 billion (roughly Rs. 24,600 crore) in revenue in 2023, down from $5.1 billion (roughly Rs. 41,900 crore) in 2021.

Twitter has been criticized over lax content moderation, followed by an exodus of many advertisers who did not want their ads appearing next to inappropriate content.

Musk’s hiring of Linda Yaccarino, former ad chief at Comcast’s NBCUniversal as CEO, signalled that ad sales are a priority for Twitter even as it works to increase subscription revenue.

Yaccarino started working at Twitter in early June and has told investors Twitter plans to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships and is in early talks with political and entertainment figures, payments services, and news and media publishers.

On Thursday, Twitter said that select content creators will be eligible to get a part of the ad revenue the company earns in an attempt to draw more content creators to the site.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Twitter to Focus on Video, Creator and Commerce Partnerships, Says CEO Yaccarino

Twitter plans to focus on video, creator and commerce partnerships to revitalise the social media company’s business beyond digital advertising, according to an investor presentation by owner Elon Musk and new Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino that was reviewed by Reuters.

Yaccarino, who started as CEO on June 5, told Twitter investors on Thursday that the company is in early conversations with political and entertainment figures, payments services and news and media publishers on potential partnerships, said a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private investor call.

The presentation was Yaccarino’s first time addressing the company’s investors, the source said.

After Musk acquired Twitter in October, the social media firm faced months of chaos, including layoffs of thousands of employees, criticism over lax content moderation, and an exodus of many advertisers who did not want their ads appearing next to inappropriate content.

Musk’s hiring of Yaccarino, a longtime advertising executive who modernised ad sales at Comcast-owned entertainment and news conglomerate NBCUniversal, was a signal that digital ads remained a priority for Twitter.

Some ad-buying firms had recommended their clients pause ad spending on Twitter after Musk’s takeover. Those recommendations have been reversed and none of the major advertising holding companies are currently recommending a pause, according to a slide shown during the presentation.

Well-known brands including Warner Bros, Mondelez, McDonald’s and Walmart have resumed advertising on Twitter after initial pauses, the slide said.

Yaccarino told investors that ad spending in several advertiser categories is now up at least 40% year-over-year, including health, consumer packaged goods and financial services, the source said.

A Twitter executive declined to comment.

Video and Commerce

Under Musk, Twitter changed its business name to X, reflecting the billionaire’s vision to create a “super app,” like China’s WeChat, that he has said would include digital payments and other services.

Twitter is applying for “money transmitter licenses” in all 50 US states, according to a slide from the presentation.

The company has also focused on growing video content on the platform. Vertical video now accounts for more than 10 percent of time spent on Twitter, another slide said.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson launched a new show earlier this month on the platform called “Tucker on Twitter.”

Twitter envisions that it could sell ads and sponsorships alongside videos from Carlson and other content creators, the source said.

Yaccarino has also told colleagues in recent days that Musk has expressed strong support for her ideas and the working relationship was off to a positive start, the source added.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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Twitter to Pay Verified Content Creators For Ads in Replies

Twitter will soon begin paying verified content creators for ads in their replies, with the first payment block of around $5 million (roughly Rs. 41 crore), company owner Elon Musk said on Friday.

“Note, the creator must be verified and only ads served to verified users count,” Musk, the billionaire who bought Twitter last October, said in a tweet.

Since Tesla CEO Musk acquired Twitter, the platform has struggled to retain advertisers, who have been wary about the placement of their ads after the company laid off thousands of employees.

The move comes as Twitter’s newly named CEO, Linda Yaccarino, an advertising veteran from NBCUniversal, is about to take the helm at the social media platform.

In March, Musk said that the messaging service makes about 5 or 6 cents per hour of attention from users and could raise that to 15 cents or more with advertisements that are more relevant and timely.

Meanwhile, Twitter alongside Meta Platforms‘ Instagram, Alphabet‘s YouTube, and TikTok could face regulatory action after European consumer group BEUC complained to the European Commission and consumer authorities that the online platforms allegedly facilitate the misleading promotion of crypto assets.

US regulators suing crypto platforms Coinbase and Binance, along with last year’s collapse of FTX, have sparked concerns over consumer protection related to crypto assets such as Bitcoin and ether.

The European Union last month adopted the world’s first comprehensive set of rules for cryptoasset regulation (MiCa).

BEUC in its complaint filed on Thursday said the proliferation of misleading advertisements of crypto assets on the social media platforms is an unfair commercial practice as it exposes consumers to serious harm such as the loss of significant amounts of money.

© Thomson Reuters 2023
 

Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, at its annual developer conference, along with new Mac models and upcoming software updates. We discuss all the most important announcements made by the company at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Twitter’s Head of Brand Safety and Ad Quality to Leave Company: Details

Twitter’s head of brand safety and ad quality, A.J. Brown, has decided to leave the company, according to a source familiar with the matter on Friday, the second safety leader to depart in a matter of days.

The latest departure adds to a growing challenge for new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, even before she steps into the role.

On Thursday, Ella Irwin told Reuters that she resigned from her role as vice president of product for trust and safety at the social media company, where she oversaw content moderation efforts and often responded to users with questions about suspended accounts.

Brown worked on efforts to prevent ads from appearing next to unsuitable content.

Platformer and the Wall Street Journal earlier reported Brown’s departure.

Since Tesla CEO Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October, the platform has struggled to retain advertisers, who were wary about the placement of their ads after the company laid off thousands of employees.

Musk’s hiring of Yaccarino, former ad chief at Comcast’s NBCUniversal, signaled that ad sales remained a priority for Twitter even as it works to grow subscription revenue.

Twitter and Brown did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. 

© Thomson Reuters 2023 

Apple’s annual developer conference is just around the corner. From the company’s first mixed reality headset to new software updates, we discuss all the things we’re looking forward to seeing at WWDC 2023 on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Elon Musk to Continue Tweeting Unfiltered Thoughts Even at the Cost of Business

Elon Musk on Tuesday said a new Twitter chief executive will let him devote more time to Tesla, but that he will continue to tweet his unfiltered thoughts even if it hurts his businesses.

“I don’t care,” the billionaire said during a CNBC interview when asked what he thought of his controversial tweets potentially hurting Tesla shares or making it harder to sell ads on Twitter.

“I’ll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.”

Named as Musk’s successor as Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino is a respected media and advertising executive considered a visionary by some.

“Twitter is very much an advertising business; Linda is obviously incredible at that and she’s just a great executive in general,” Musk said.

“Linda will operate a company and I will build products.”

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has repeatedly courted controversy, sacking most of its staff, readmitting banned accounts to the platform, suspending journalists and charging for previously free services.

Those moves have spooked advertisers, many of whom left the platform due to concerns over their products being associated with troubling content.

Musk has also cleared the way for Donald Trump to return to Twitter, but the former US president has yet to restart using the platform, choosing to post on his own social media site instead.

Were Trump to return and post unfounded claims about the 2020 election, a “community notes” feature would let Twitter users point out the misinformation, Musk told CNBC, adding that he did not personally think the election was “stolen” as Trump alleges.

Despite Musk’s stated positions on free speech, as well as his fierce criticism of content moderation around the 2020 election, Twitter recently admitted it yielded to Turkish government pressure to take down content ahead of last weekend’s elections.

“We received what we believed to be a final threat to throttle the service — after several such warnings,” the company said Monday, amid outcry over the apparent hypocrisy.

“And so in order to keep Twitter available over the election weekend, took action on four accounts and 409 Tweets identified by court order.”

Musk told CNBC he will be focusing especially on artificial intelligence back at Tesla, which already uses such technology for self-driving capabilities.

“I think Tesla will have a ChatGPT moment; I’d say no later than next year,” Musk said of Tesla AI used for autonomous driving.

ChatGPT bots from startup OpenAI, which Musk helped create, have captured imaginations and provoked fears regarding powerful artificial intelligence.

“I am the reason OpenAI exists,” Musk claimed, noting he invested some $50 million (roughly Rs. 400 crore) in the startup at the outset.

“I came up with the name.”

Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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