Head of TED Talks Predicts Twitter/Musk Deal's Future: 'Now Pass Me The Popcorn!'

A Delaware judge on Thursday halted Twitter Inc's TWTR legal action against Elon Musk, allowing the business tycoon time to fund his $44 billion acquisition of the microblogging platform.

The decision ended days of speculation about Musk's intentions and eliminated the possibility that the erratic billionaire would have to appear under oath over his allegations that Twitter deceived him.

“First of all, I think the deal will indeed go through now, backed by an impressive roster of co-investors,” said Chris Anderson, CEO of TED Talks, who offered his opinion on how Musk’s Twitter acquisition would play out, but also said that the company will undoubtedly experience a period of significant turmoil.

Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has mentioned several times that if the deal goes through, the way content is moderated on the microblogging platform would change — mainly allowing users to control what content they see — causing concern for those who work for the company.

Musk also suggested that the algorithm that determines how tweets are promoted and demoted could be uploaded to the software hosting platform GitHub, making it available to people outside of the company.

“Steps will be put into place to verify all human Twitter accounts. That process will lay the basis for those accounts to be used for transactions a la WeChat, using a Twitter crypto coin, or USD,” Anderson continued.

Musk said earlier that buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, “the everything app” similar to WeChat.

His plan is to integrate many more services into Twitter and turn it into an app that provides multiple services across different verticals.

WeChat, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, has a variety of uses, making it widely popular across China.

WeChat and other affiliated mini-apps connect every facet of life in China, including hailing a cab, buying groceries, booking a doctor’s appointment, and purchasing insurance. Musk said in a June Twitter town hall meeting to employees that there is no American equivalent to WeChat, and Twitter has a “real opportunity” to create one.

Anderson predicted in 2013 that Musk would become the richest man in the world within a decade — “Check. The next decade will be even more spectacular,” the TED CEO said.

Relying on his previous prediction being correct, Anderson offered another, this time, with a three-year timeline.

"Fixing Twitter may be as hard a job as converting Teslas into robotaxis and proving the viability of a monster rocket capable of taking humanity to Mars. But within three years from today, I predict he will have accomplished all three — now pass me the popcorn!"

Photo: Courtesy of Tesla Owners Club Belgium on flickr