Elon Musk is warning Twitter employees to brace for “difficult times ahead” that might end with the collapse of the social media platform if they can't find new ways of making money.
Workers who survived last week's mass layoffs are facing harsher work conditions and growing uncertainty about their ability to keep Twitter running safely as it continues to lose high-level leaders responsible for data privacy, cybersecurity and complying with regulations.
Musk’s first companywide message to employees came by email late Wednesday night and ordered them to stop working from home and show up in the office Thursday morning. He followed that with his first “all-hands" meeting Thursday answering workers' concerns. Before that, many were relying on the billionaire Tesla CEO's public tweets for clues about Twitter's future.
“Sorry that this is my first email to the whole company, but there is no way to sugarcoat the message," wrote Musk, before he described a dire economic climate for businesses like Twitter that rely almost entirely on advertising to make money.
“Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn,” Musk said. “We need roughly half of our revenue to be subscription.”
At the staff meeting Thursday afternoon, Musk said some “exceptional” employees could seek an exemption from his return-to-work order but that others who didn’t like it could quit, according to an employee at the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity out of a concern for job security.
The employee also said Musk appeared to downplay employee concerns about how a pared-back Twitter workforce was handling its obligations to maintain privacy and data security standards, saying as CEO of Tesla he knew how that worked.
Musk’s memo and staff meeting echoed a livestreamed conversation trying to assuage major advertisers Wednesday, his most expansive public comments about Twitter’s direction since he closed a $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform late last month and dismissed its top executives. A number of well-known brands have paused advertising on Twitter as they wait to see how Musk's proposals to relax content rules against hate and misinformation affect the tenor of the platform.
Musk told employees the “priority over the past 10 days" was to develop and launch Twitter's new subscription service for $7.99 a month that includes a blue check mark next to the name of paid members — the mark was previously only for verified accounts. Musk's project has had a rocky rollout with an onslaught of newly bought fake accounts this week impersonating high-profile figures such as basketball star LeBron James, former U.S. President George W. Bush and the drug company Eli Lilly to post false information or offensive jokes.
In a second email to employees, Musk said the “absolute top priority" over the coming days is to suspend “bots/trolls/spam” exploiting the verified accounts. But Twitter now employs far fewer people to help him do that.
An executive last week said Twitter was cutting roughly 50% of its workforce, which numbered 7,500 earlier this year.
Musk had previously expressed distaste for Twitter's pandemic-era remote work policies that enabled team leaders to decide if employees had to show up in the office.
Musk told employees in the email that “remote work is no longer allowed" and the road ahead is “arduous and will require intense work to succeed" and they will need to be in the office at least 40 hours per week. He said he would personally review any request for an exception.
Twitter hasn’t disclosed the total number of layoffs across its global workforce but told local and state officials in the US that it was cutting 784 workers at its San Francisco headquarters, about 200 elsewhere in California, more than 400 in New York City, more than 200 in Seattle and about 80 in Atlanta.
The exodus at Twitter is ongoing, including the company's chief privacy officer, Damien Kieran, and chief information security officer Lea Kissner, who tweeted Thursday that “I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter.”
Cybersecurity expert Alex Stamos, a former Facebook security chief, tweeted Thursday that there is a “serious risk of a breach with drastically reduced staff” that could also put Twitter at odds with a 2011 order from the Federal Trade Commission that required it to address serious data security lapses.
“Twitter made huge strides towards a more rational internal security model and backsliding will put them in trouble with the FTC” and other regulators in the US and Europe, Stamos said.
The FTC said in a statement Thursday that it is “tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern."
“No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees," said the agency's statement. “Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them.”
The FTC would not say whether it was investigating Twitter for potential violations. If it were, it is empowered to demand documents and depose employees.
Twitter paid a $150 million penalty in May for violating the 2011 consent order and its updated version established new procedures requiring the company to implement an enhanced privacy protection program as well as beefing up info security.
Those new procedures include an exhaustive list of disclosures Twitter must make to the FTC when introducing new products and services — particularly when they affect personal data collected on users.
Musk is, of course, fundamentally overhauling platform offerings, and it's not known if he is telling the FTC about it. Twitter, which gutted its communications department, didn't respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Musk has a history of tangling with regulators. “I do not respect the SEC,” Musk declared in a 2018 tweet.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently examined for possible tardiness his disclosures to the agency of his purchases of Twitter stock to amass a major stake. In 2018, Musk and Tesla each agreed to pay $20 million in fines over Musk’s allegedly misleading tweets saying he’d secured the funding to take the electric car maker private for $420 a share. Musk has fought the SEC in court over compliance with the agreement.
The consequences for not meeting FTC's requirements can be severe — such as when Facebook had to pay $5 billion for privacy violations.
“If Twitter so much as sneezes, it has to do a privacy review beforehand,” tweeted Riana Pfefferkorn, a Stanford University researcher who said she previously provided Twitter outside legal counsel. “There are periodic outside audits, and the FTC can monitor compliance.”
Twitter was fined in May for the alleged commercial exploit of customers data — phone numbers and email addresses — that it had claimed it needed for security purposes, such as enabling multi-factor authentication.
Twitter survival at stake, Elon Musk warns as remote work ends
https://arab.news/bera3
Twitter survival at stake, Elon Musk warns as remote work ends
- A number of well-known brands have paused advertising on Twitter as they wait to see how Musk's proposals to relax content rules against hate and misinformation affect the tenor of the platform
Saudi who swapped ejection seats for tech reviews — and topped KSA charts
- In an exclusive interview with Arab News, the host of ‘2You’ and ‘Up To Date KSA’ talks about digital wellness, AI’s future, and his plans to fill the gap in Arabic tech content
- Top Arab content creator in Saudi Arabia’s 2025 top 10 most-viewed YouTube channels describes milestone as ‘shockingly’ positive
LONDON: Speaking to Faisal Al-Saif, a self-described tech lover, one of the least likely things you expect to hear is advice on disconnecting from technology.
Yet the idea of a “tech diet” — more commonly known as digital wellbeing — takes on added weight when it comes from someone whose work revolves around gadgets and who relies on social media as their primary platform.
Beyond this seemingly analytical, Web 1.0-style perspective, Al-Saif draws on more than two decades of experience as a tech expert — or, in today’s terms, a content creator.
“I’m an early believer that technology is here to connect us more, to make the world even smaller than what it is, and make us just more active, more productive, and have more time for our religion, for our families and for our actual lives,” Al-Saif told Arab News.
Al-Saif trained as an aircraft engineer at BAE Systems, where he specialized in ejection seats for Royal Saudi Air Force jets, before entering broadcasting in 2004, hosting and producing KSA2’s English-language “2You” and, later, the technology show “Up To Date KSA.”
In 2009, he pivoted to YouTube — a platform with more limited reach and no monetization at the time — to help fill the gap in Arabic tech content.
“Back then, if you searched about a device or a system or a piece of information, the main language you would find the result in was English. So, I just started creating a channel and putting some good content in (both) Arabic and in English,” he said.
This approach required filming videos twice. Initially, videos in English drew more views, while Arabic lagged, but that shifted month by month as Arabic content gained traction.
“To put it in perspective, back then, it wasn’t a source of income — not a main, not a minor, not a partial.”
Today, Al-Saif’s channel delivers straightforward reviews that guide viewers on whether to buy or avoid products based on their needs, not brand pressure.
“I love creating content that gives value to the people. I love simplifying information. I love tech in a crazy way,” he said. “I like to see new tech, test it, be an early adopter of it. Tell people, ‘This is good because of this, and (that) could have been better with those implemented.’ Tell people to buy or not to buy based on their preferences, not based on companies and what they want to push.”
Creators typically earn through ad revenue, fan funding, product placement, and sponsorships, though Al-Saif distances himself from the “influencer” label.
“Part of it is that struggle we went through throughout the years, of trying to create valuable business propositions for everybody who works with us, being very fair and honest about what I present, and trying to help companies, just to help companies. Not seeking business.”
Earlier this month, almost two decades after starting his channel, Al-Saif was named top Arab content creator — and the only regional entry — in Saudi Arabia’s 2025 top 10 most-viewed YouTube channels, a milestone he described as “shocking” in a positive sense.
“Being on that top 10 list gives me a cool push after 16 years,” he said of his UTD Saudi channel, which has 8.92 million subscribers.
“(When) I go into a hospital, I find a lot of Saudis that know me. But also, I find some Filipino nurses coming to me (telling me), ‘I watch your videos.’ I like that kind of diversity (which) is only possible on YouTube and educational content.”
Al-Saif views YouTube as a modern visual library to help informed decisions. While social media shifts toward short-form videos, he believes the platform is resisting this trend.
“If it’s all short-term content, it’s us supporting that short attention span (which) is being developed with people.”
He champions long-form reviews, beginning with a brief story, then details, to encourage informed decisions. By contrast, he argued, three-second or ultra-short videos may be excellent at grabbing attention, but are largely useless for serious decisions, “unless (perhaps) it’s a cooking video.”
In 2012, after seeing an opening, Al-Saif left BAE Systems — “initially only for two years” — to launch Tech Pills Productions, helping companies such as Intel, Microsoft, and HP create content, a move that boosted his career. He later diversified into tech startups, though he shuns the “investor” label.
“I don’t see myself as an entrepreneur or an investor. I just see myself as a tech lover,” he said. “I try to push myself into diversifying the business and creating other pillars. So, I went into other types of investments, working and developing applications with different partners, and all of that went well. That part made me more comfortable creating content for the joy of it instead for the business side of it.”
In 2021, Al-Saif backed Karaz (Arabic for “cherries”), an EHR platform using IoT, AI, and real-time data for healthcare, originally a gamified app for diabetic children. “(I’m drawn to a project) if there’s a human touch,” he said. “It’s relating data to human change in a positive way that made me not hesitate and go for it.”
While AI pitches flood in, past flops have left him with a degree of “marketing resistance.”
“I find that AI does add value if you have those (proper) steps into getting into AGI (artificial general intelligence) and the later steps that will come. It’s the proper development. But the hype about relating everything to AI, that part, I’m definitely against,” he said.
AI has dominated headlines for three years, fueling an economic boom, and sparking debate over job losses and ethical risks. Al-Saif acknowledges the technology’s “endless opportunities,” but doubts the hype will last and that AI will ultimately drive the world. “They will find something else; either it’s diverted from AI or from another field in technology to create that marketing sense.”
Asked what people should be more aware of, he urged greater public education on AI’s dual nature.
“It’s a knife that you can cook with, or it’s a knife that can stab someone. There’s a seriousness about AI, and sadly, the world does not do enough regarding the sense of awareness,” he said.
Without greater understanding, unchecked AI could create generations shaped entirely by whatever information they are fed, regardless of truth, he said, adding that the technology already enables bad behavior excused as “AI-generated” and blurs fact and fiction, making regulations essential.
Saudi Arabia is leading responsibly through its Data and AI Authority, he said. “I think they’re going very well within multiple sides: the regulatory part, the governance side, as well as when it comes to investing heavily with the infrastructure and AI companies.”
Through the authority, the Kingdom has launched an ambitious plan to position itself at the forefront of AI technology. Al-Saif has contributed directly and indirectly, including advising on public strategies such as the Riyadh Charter on AI Ethics in the Islamic World.
“It’s a very interesting place to be (at a) very interesting time. I’ve sat with the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman). He talked about AI, his vision, and how AI will create this next wave of businesses and next wave of economy.”
Asked whether our society is obsessed with technological progress, Al-Saif replies that “we are adopting (technologies) for what we need,” but adds that limits, such as Australia’s recent social media ban for youth, are needed. “But the thing is, they don’t ban stuff in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They try to create a system.”
At home, he supervises his children’s screen time or watches content together. “YouTube is still, I find, the safest platform (out) there because of its nature of long videos and vlogs. It is much more mature than any other platform when it comes to how to censor, how to control, how to do things.”
However, he agreed that younger generations, as tech natives, perceive tech interaction differently, specifically when it comes to privacy.
“Privacy is kind of a stretchy thing. I define privacy different than my kids when they grow up, and that made me think of privacy different. It’s not that we’re letting go of information. It’s the environment that we live in that creates that sense of privacy.”
Al-Saif believes privacy has already been reshaped — not as a value we hold dear, but as an illusion where true personal boundaries have been eroded. What remains is a mere reflection of our actions online, not tied to our names, but reduced to anonymous data points or numbers in the digital ether.
For Al-Saif, part of the answer lies in the power of disconnection, an approach that he has strongly advocated.
“I give myself an hour or two a day maximum (online) to know about certain other stuff. My advice for anybody who wants to live 12 hours of cool life is: Try to experience or to learn something unrelated to tech.”
Pointing to a beehive he keeps in the office, Al-Saif added: “There are other fields that I like to, let’s say, learn about. It’s a clear state of mind that you reach with it. And I just try to do as normal, natural things as possible; try to work with gadgets and appliances that don’t have batteries.”
