Following Elon Musk calling out Apple and Tim Cook over a drop in advertising spend on Twitter, its 30% App Store fee, and more, there’s been a shift. This afternoon, Musk tweeted a thank you to the Apple CEO for a tour of the company’s “beautiful HQ.”
In an interesting turn of events, Musk’s tweet – which includes a five-second video pan of what appears to be Apple Park – says “Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple’s beautiful HQ”.
That comes after Musk said the iPhone maker mostly stopped its advertising on Twitter and asked the question “Do they hate free speech in America?” Apple nor Tim Cook responded to that.
If Elon’s tweet this afternoon is as it seems, it appears Cook invited him over to Cupertino to chat in person.
Corroborating the tweet, John Gruber has heard from a source at Apple Park that Cook was seen walking with Musk just now.
Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple’s beautiful HQ pic.twitter.com/xjo4g306gR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022
30% App Store fee and Twitter Blue
During some face time with Cook, Musk almost certainly would have also brought up the 30% App Store fee along with what he called threats to withhold Twitter from the App Store.
Reported by Ars Technica via Platformer, Twitter Blue was originally planned to relaunch this week. However, Musk is allegedly working on how to avoid having customers pay for the $8/month service through Apple to skip the 30% App Store fee.
Update: Several hours after his initial tweet, Elon said they had “good conversation” and that Cook cleared up the misunderstanding about the perceived App Store threat.
- Elon Musk says Twitter not at risk of removal from iPhone App Store, following meeting with Tim Cook
Tim head via Apple.com, Elon head via Wikimedia
