Twitter has accused Microsoft of violating the terms of an agreement over the usage of its data, reported The New York Times, citing a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
In the letter, reviewed by the publication, the social media company said Microsoft refused to pay for that data and in some cases, used more data than it was supposed to.
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The software giant also shared the data with government agencies, without Twitter’s permission, the letter said.
Twitter owner Elon Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro wrote the letter to Nadella.
“Microsoft may have been in violation of multiple provisions of the agreement for an extended period of time,” Spiro’s letter read.
Musk bought Twitter last October in a deal valued at $44bn.
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By GlobalDataSince then, he has emphasised the urgency for the company to generate profits or it would go bankrupt.
In response, Twitter has introduced new subscription services and implemented strategies to boost revenue.
As part of these efforts, in March, the company announced that it would increase fees for developers seeking access to its tweet streams.
The development comes after Musk accused Microsoft of illegally using Twitter’s data last month.
“They trained illegally using Twitter data. Lawsuit time,” he tweeted at that time.
Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Microsoft, they are currently not paying Twitter for using its data.
In response to the letter, a Microsoft spokesperson, Frank Shaw, confirmed that they have received the letter and will carefully review the questions before responding.
“We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership with the company,” he was quoted by the publication as saying.
The letter does not specify if legal action will be taken against Microsoft or if financial compensation will be sought.
It does demand that Microsoft adhere to Twitter’s developer agreement and provide a report by June detailing the extent of Twitter data held by the company, how it was stored and utilised, and when government-related organisations accessed the data.
