Twitter Allegedly Declines Payment for Google Cloud Agreement
Twitter’s future stability appears uncertain as reports suggest the company has refused to pay Google for its $1 billion contract signed in 2018, which allowed Twitter to utilize Google Cloud servers for hosting some of its services. With the contract set to expire on June 30th, Twitter is now rushing to transfer its services to its own infrastructure, but the process is falling behind schedule. This delay puts certain tools, including Smyte, an acquired platform aimed at enhancing moderation capabilities, at risk of becoming inaccessible.
Should Twitter fail to complete the migration before the end of the month, it could severely impact the company’s ability to combat issues like spam and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Prior to this development, Smyte was already showing signs of strain following workforce reductions initiated by Elon Musk. Twitter’s trust and safety team also faced challenges when Musk questioned the system’s failure to detect a Twitter Blue user impersonating him for a cryptocurrency scam. The team revealed that the system had been unstable for a week, experiencing frequent crashes.
Twitter 2.0 has been plagued by platform instability, evident from the multiple instances of core features going offline in February. Recently, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced difficulties when attempting to announce his presidential nomination bid, as Twitter Spaces struggled to handle the surge in listeners. If Twitter indeed decides not to fulfill its financial obligations to Google, it would not be the first time the company has neglected a contractual agreement. Last year, the owner of the building housing Twitter headquarters sued the company for failing to pay rent.
