SAN FRANCISCO, US: Twitter on Thursday said the notion Elon Musk was “hoodwinked” into inking a $44 billion buyout deal defies reason and the facts.
In a filing, Twitter rejected counter claims made by Musk as he fights to walk away from the deal he inked in April to buy the San Francisco-based company.
“According to Musk, he — the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers — was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement,” Twitter said.
“That story is as implausible and contrary to fact as it sounds.”
Musk last week filed a countersuit along with a legal defense against Twitter’s claim that the billionaire is contractually bound to complete the takeover deal.
“The counterclaims are a made-for-litigation tale that is contradicted by the evidence and common sense,” Twitter argued in the filing.
A five-day trial that will consider Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk has been scheduled for October 17.
The Tesla boss wooed Twitter’s board with a $54.20 per-share offer, but then in July announced he was ending their agreement because the firm had misled him regarding its tally of fake and spam accounts.
Twitter, whose stock price closed at $41.06 on Thursday, has stuck by its estimates that less than 5 percent of the activity on the platform is due to software “bots” rather than people.
Twitter told the court that Musk’s claim that the false account figure tops 10 percent is “untenable.”
The company also disputed Musk’s assertion that he has the right to walk away from the deal if Twitter’s bot count is found to be wrong since he didn’t ask anything about bots when he made the buyout offer.
“Musk forwent all due diligence — giving Twitter twenty-four hours to accept his take-it-or-leave-it offer before he would present it directly to Twitter’s stockholders,” the filing said.
The company accused Musk of contriving a story to escape a merger agreement that he no longer found attractive.
“Twitter has complied in every respect with the merger agreement,” the company said in the filing made to Chancery Court in the state of Delaware.
“Musk’s counterclaims, based as they are on distortion, misrepresentation, and outright deception, change nothing.”
The social media platform has urged shareholders to endorse the deal, setting a vote on the merger for September 13.
“We are committed to closing the merger on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk,” Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and board chairman Bret Taylor said in a letter to investors.
Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Musk has said should allow any legal speech — an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.
Twitter says Elon Musk making up excuses to breach deal
https://arab.news/rwqem
Twitter says Elon Musk making up excuses to breach deal
- Musk wooed Twitter’s board with a $54.20 per-share offer, but in July announced he was ending the agreement
- The Tesla boss has accused the firm of misleading him regarding its tally of fake and spam accounts
WEF report spotlights real-world AI adoption across industries
DUBAI: A new report by the World Economic Forum, released Monday, highlights companies across more than 30 countries and 20 industries that are using artificial intelligence to deliver real-world impact.
Developed in partnership with Accenture, “Proof over Promise: Insights on Real-World AI Adoption from 2025 MINDS Organizations” draws on insights from two cohorts of MINDS (Meaningful, Intelligent, Novel, Deployable Solutions), a WEF initiative focused on AI solutions that have moved beyond pilot phases to deliver measurable performance gains.
As part of its AI Global Alliance, the WEF launched the MINDS program in 2025, announcing its first cohort that year and a second cohort this week. Cohorts are selected through an evaluation process led by the WEF’s Impact Council — an independent group of experts — with applications open to public- and private-sector organizations across industries.
The report found a widening gap between organizations that have successfully scaled AI and those still struggling, while underscoring how this divide can be bridged through real-world case studies.
Based on these case studies and interviews with selected MINDS organizations, the report identified five key insights distinguishing successful AI adopters from others.
It found that leading organizations are moving away from isolated, tactical uses of AI and instead embedding it as a strategic, enterprise-wide capability.
The second insight centers on people, with AI increasingly designed to complement human expertise through closer collaboration, rather than replace it.
The other insights focus on the systems needed to scale AI effectively, including strengthening data foundations and strategic data sources, as well as moving away from fragmented technologies toward unified AI platforms.
Lastly, the report underscores the need for responsible AI, with organizations strengthening governance, safeguards and human oversight as automated decision-making becomes more widespread.
Stephan Mergenthaler, managing director and chief technology officer at the WEF, said: “AI offers extraordinary potential, yet many organizations remain unsure about how to realize it.
“The selected use cases show what is possible when ambition is translated into operational transformation and our new report provides a practical guide to help others follow the path these leaders have set.”
Among the examples cited in the report is a pilot led by the Saudi Ministry of Health in partnership with AmplifAI, which used AI-enabled thermal imaging to support early detection of diabetic foot conditions.
The initiative reduced clinician time by up to 90 percent, cut treatment costs by as much as 80 percent, and delivered a 10 time increase in screening capacity. Following clinical trials, the solution has been approved by regulatory authorities in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
The report also points to work by Fujitsu, which deployed AI across its supply chain to improve inventory management. The rollout helped cut inventory-related costs by $15 million, reduce excess stock by $20 million and halve operational headcount.
In India, Tech Mahindra scaled multilingual large language models capable of handling 3.8 million monthly queries with 92 percent accuracy, enabling more inclusive access to digital services across markets in the Global South.
“Trusted, advanced AI can transform businesses, but it requires organizing data and processes to achieve the best of technology and — this is key — it also requires human ingenuity to maximize returns on AI investments,” said Manish Sharma, chief strategy and services officer at Accenture.
