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Elon Musk’s conversation with ex-president Donald Trump got off to a rocky start on Monday after the X space that was supposed to host it crashed immediately. 18 minutes after the conversation was supposed to start, Musk claimed that X had been targeted with a massive DDoS attack, making it impossible for the space to function.
However, a source at the company confirmed to The Verge that there was no denial of service attack on the social media platform. Another source, an employee at X, said there was a “99 percent chance Musk was lying about an attack.” The rest of the platform seemed to be working normally at the moment.
Following the interruption, Musk claimed that the system was tested earlier with eight million concurrent listeners. According to X, 915,000 people were listening by the time the interview began. Musk assured any would-be listeners that the interview would proceed with fewer listeners 30 minutes after the scheduled time, and the unedited audio would be posted immediately after that.
Social media company heads have historically avoided disclosing political alliances on their platforms, but Musk seems to be breaking the pattern here. As The New York Times notes, his account, with over 193 million followers (the largest on the platform), has recently been filled with Trump’s praises while also being increasingly critical of current President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Musk hasn’t always been outspoken about politics, but his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, have enjoyed contracts and subsidies from the federal government, making not burning bridges beneficial. However, with both companies now being leaders in their sectors, it appears Musk has less pressure to appease the government.
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