Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has stated that he bought Twitter because he felt the social networking site had had a "corrosive effect" on society, and hoped to improve it. Speaking at Paris' VivaTech conference to an audience of 4,000 people, Musk commented that most regular users of the service believed that their experience had improved since he had taken over.
Bemoaning the decline in Twitter's advertising revenue since he took over, Musk expressed optimism about new CEO Linda Yaccarino's ability to court advertisers and get them back as customers. He praised Yaccarino's previous performance at NBCUniversal and said she would help the company to improve its relationship with brands.
However, Musk joked that he had paid too much for Twitter in his $44bn purchase, and he called the network "the most dangerous social media platform". Instead, he emphasised the dangers of unchecked AI. He said that the technology was "the most disruptive ever" and stressed the need for regulation. While he acknowledged that the results from the technology could be helpful, he also warned of the potential for a catastrophic outcome if it was not properly controlled.
Musk also spoke about his other projects, predicting that his Neuralink firm would carry out its first human implant later this year. He said that he aims to restore full-body function using the technology on those who have lost it. Musk recently had lunch with Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire who briefly became the world's richest person over Musk, and met with French president Emmanuel Macron.