According to Platformer, Elon Musk’s Twitter social network has decided not to renew its Google Cloud service contract, which could result in the loss of access to content moderation tools. The company has previously refused to pay its bills, prompting Amazon to threaten to stop buying ads in March after refusing to pay for AWS services.
It is known that the Google Cloud service contract must be renewed by June 30th. It was concluded back in 2018, when Twitter signed a multi-year agreement worth about $1 billion. Prior to Musk’s arrival, the company was actively moving its services to the Google cloud. However, she now intends to return to storing and processing data on her own resources, and this must be done in the near future, as the contract is coming to an end in just a few weeks.
One of the main problems highlighted by the Platformer portal is the inability of the social network to keep up with all the necessary work. This can result in the temporary loss of moderation tools such as Smyte, which helps fight spam and the posting of child abuse material. In addition, after Musk began massive layoffs at the company, Smyte has experienced technical problems that show up daily.
The cost savings policy actively implemented by Musk after buying Twitter has led to numerous failures. The payment waiver is partly attributed to the poor quality of Google’s infrastructure, and Twitter is temporarily withholding the payment while waiting for Google to fix the issues. Experts believe that as a result, Twitter may lose access to some services, including those that are of great importance to advertisers, which are the main source of income for the social network.
Some experts doubt Musk’s ability to exert enough pressure on Google and believe that Twitter will eventually be forced to pay, notes NIX Solutions. In the past, the company has tried to renegotiate agreements with cloud providers Amazon and Oracle to cut costs. However, failure to pay key players could negatively impact the reputation of Twitter’s business with other cloud providers that are essential in today’s world.