Twitter scraps opening event at Singapore HQ day after Elon Musk buyout

[The_King]

TWITTER has called off a planned event to officially open its expanded office space in Singapore, its Asia-Pacific hub, following a proposed US$44 billion buyout of the social media giant by billionaire Elon Musk.

The event, to open a 22,000 sq ft expansion to its existing office space in CapitaGreen, was to take place on Thursday (Apr 28). The launch was cancelled on Wednesday. Twitter did not give a reason for the change of plans.

It said it will soon share more about initiatives done in partnership with the government, focused on online safety, digital literacy and tech talent.

The Business Times has contacted the company for comment.

News of Musk's proposed takeover of Twitter has prompted worries about the company's future and wider implications on the media landscape and politics.

Musk has vowed to become a bastion of free speech. Critics have however argued that the Tesla CEO has a poor track record of upholding those values when they do not align with his business interests.

Concerns have surfaced about Musk's increasingly conservative leanings and whether a change in Twitter ownership would allow former US president Donald Trump back onto the platform. Questions have also loomed over the platform’s future links to China, where Tesla derives significant revenue but Twitter has a rocky relationship with.

Some analysts expect Musk to make significant changes to Twitter’s business model. The billionaire has said he wants to add new product features and make algorithms open source to increase trust.

Twitter's chief executive Parag Agrawal told employees in a town hall that the direction of the company after the deal closes is uncertain, Reuters reported.

Agrawal said there are no plans for layoffs, according to the report, which did not specify whether hiring plans are now stalled.

Twitter has made public its intention to invest further in its engineering centre in Singapore, which it launched in February 2020. At the time, it committed to hiring 65 staff.

In January, it said it will double the number of engineers to over 100 staff by 2023. The additional hires will span roles in engineering, data science, machine learning and product management. The Singapore centre is led by Silvanus Lee, who also co-founded an artificial intelligence startup, BasisAI, that was acquired by a Temasek company last year.

Thursday's planned event was supposed to have been attended by Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo, who would give opening remarks. BT has contacted the ministry for comment.

[The_King]

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[Huat Zai]

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