Elon Musk avoids a fight with apples by meeting Tim Cook

SAN FRANCISCO – Elon of Twitter, Elon Musk, said in a series tweets on Monday that, Apple has been accused of vandalismHis social media company cut back on advertising and threatened to remove the Twitter application from the App Store.

Any potential conflict seemed to have been resolved by Wednesday.

On Twitter, Mr. Musk posted an image of himself walking past a meditation pond on Wednesday. Although the video does not show Mr. Musk walking with whom, Apple employees claimed they saw him with Apple CEO Tim Cook. In a post later, Mr. Musk claimed that he and Mr. Cook had discussed their dispute.

Musk said it in a tweet. “Tim was certain that Apple would never consider doing this.”

Apple declined to comment. Mr. Musk did no respond to a request to comment.

The meeting seemed more than just a squabble between two tech giants. Mr. Musk had taken aim Apple’s control over the App Store, which is the only distributor of apps on more that 1 billion iPhones worldwide. His complaints — about Apple’s app approval policies and its practice of taking a cut from the sale of apps — revived a problem raised by other companies, such as Spotify and Epic Games. Around the globe, regulators and lawmakers are examining Apple’s authority in software distribution.

Twitter’s content policies under Musk, who took control in October, were unclear. This could lead to Twitter being at odds with Apple which reviews every app that is distributed through the App Store.

Mr. Musk Reposted former President Donald J. Trump’s accountThe company, which was stopped after the January 6, 2020 riot at US Capitol, said it would forgive accounts that were suspended by the previous leadership. Apple’s rules ban hateful speech and content. Apple also monitors apps to make sure they use an in app payment system to collect subscriptions. This allows Apple to collect up 30 percent of sales.

Apple has raised concerns about developers who violate these policies and slow down the approval of their apps for distribution in the past. Musk stated Monday that Apple had threatened to do so with Twitter, but he did not tell the social media company why.

According to a source familiar with the matter, Mr. Cook visited Musk before his scheduled trip to Washington. He is due to meet several Republican lawmakers including Rep. Jim Jordan from Ohio and Kathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington. The conflict with Mr. Musk threatened to complicate those meetings because he accused Apple of trying to censor “free speech” by limiting Twitter’s distribution to iPhones — a problem in Congress, where Republican leaders worry about Silicon Valley companies suppressing conservative views.

Mister Cook had used magic attacks in the past. After Mr. Trump in 2018 criticized Apple’s exports, Mr. Cook flew to Washington to meet him and join a White House advisory committee. Mr. Trump later dropped his criticisms of Apple, and praised Mr. Cook as a “great CEO” because he calls him and others don’t.

David McCabeContribute towards the preparation of reports