Elon Musk was stunned when asked a pointed question about Twitter’s software engineering on Tuesday night, before branding his interrogator an “idiot.”
The platform’s billionaire owner was speaking during a Twitter Space hosted by renowned hacker George Hotz when he was pressed for more specifics by Ian Brown, a former Twitter contributor who has worked for eight years and now works for Netflix.
Responding to a question from Hotz, Musk, 51, said Twitter would need a “complete rewrite of the whole thing” if the platform wanted to have “really high speed.”
This led to a surprised response from Brown, who was given the virtual mic to question the “chief twit” in the room.
Elon Musk (left) was stunned when Ian Brown (right, a former Twitter employee of eight years who now works for Netflix) asked a pointed question about Twitter’s software development Tuesday night before branding his interrogator an “idiot.” .
How Elon Musk lost his composure in the Twitter Space
*Renowned hacker George Hotz asks Musk a question about feature speed*
Elon Musk: I think, honestly, if you want really high speed of features, we just have to rewrite the whole thing from scratch. Ah…
Ian Brown: Seriously? A complete rewrite? That’s your prediction for speed?
Musk: Yes.
Hotz: Well, when you say a complete rewrite, do you mean starting with the skeleton, or a bunch of engineers sitting down with a whiteboard and saying, ‘What is Twitter?’
Musk: Umm… *awkward pause*
Hotz: Revolution or reform?
Musk: I mean, I’m just thinking literally – *stutter* You could either try to change the crazy stack that exists or rewrite it.
Brown: When you say “crazy stack,” what do you mean? break it up
Musk: *awkward pause* Have you seen George’s chart?
George: *laughs*
* talk about each other. Ian heard him try to repeat his question.*
Brown: Come on buddy, come on.
Musk: Are you… who are you?
Brown: What do you mean, who am I? I don’t know, you gave me the damn mic.
Hotz: Woah woah, I do the mic. Let’s keep it civil in my area.
Musk: I mean. *pause* Yes.
Brown: I mean, man, you’re in charge of the servers and the programming and whatever. What is the stack Elon?
Hotz: Please keep things technical in my area.
Brown: Come on, take me top to bottom. How does the stack currently look? What’s so crazy about that? What’s so unusual about this stack compared to every other major system on the planet, mate? Come on! Give it to me.
Geroge: Well first of all-
Musk: Amazing. Wow. You are a donkey.
Brown: *laughs*
Hotz: Ok, ok ok…
Brown: Haha, ok! I have no credibility here mate, I have no idea what I’m talking about – *mic pulled*
Musk: Good! What an idiot.
“Wait seriously, a complete rewrite? That’s your prediction for speed?’ Brown interrupted. “Yes,” Musk can be heard, quickly responding to the question.
“Well, when you say a complete rewrite, do you mean start with the skeleton?” Hotz intervened in the questioning. “Or a bunch of engineers sit down with a whiteboard and say, ‘What is Twitter?’ Revolution or reform?’
After some back-and-forth, Musk replied, “I mean, I’m just thinking literally — you could either try to change the existing crazy stack or rewrite it.”
Brown saw this as another opportunity to ask a question: “What do you mean when you say Crazy Stack?” Break it up.’
Basically, a “stack” is a technical term that refers to the collection of technologies used to build a software product like Twitter.
Musk responds by asking Brown if he saw a chart of Hotz, who resigned from Twitter earlier in the day. This caused Brown to laugh.
Musk and Brown can be heard talking at once, with Brown trying to get a clearer answer from the billionaire. “Come on, buddy, come on,” Brown says.
Suddenly, Musk’s tone changes. ‘Are you… who are you?’ he asks confused.
“What do you mean, who am I? I don’t know, you gave me the friggin’ mic,” Brown asks, obviously amused by Musk’s attempt to avoid answering his questions.
Hotz interrupted the conversation again at this point. “Let’s keep it civil in my area,” he hears say over the other two speakers.
“I mean, man, you’re in charge of the servers and the programming and whatever. What is the stack, Elon?’ asks Brown again.
“Take me from top to bottom. How does the stack currently look? What’s so crazy about that? What’s so unusual about this stack compared to every other major system on the planet, mate? Come on! Give it to me.’
Instead of answering his question, Musk — visibly excited — resorted to ad hominem attacks against Brown.
“Well first of all, amazing. Wow. You’re a jackass,” says Musk.
Brown can be heard in response when Hotz calls for calm again.
‘Haha okay! I have no credibility here, mate, I have no idea what I’m talking about-” Brown says sarcastically as the virtual microphone is taken away from him.
‘Good! What an idiot,” Musk replies, trying to have the final say in the awkward exchange.
Hotz, a famous “hacker” known for iOS jailbreaks and reverse engineering the PlayStation 3 (and Sony’s subsequent lawsuit), was hired by Musk in November to help him “fix” Twitter.
Twelve weeks later, however, he announced on the plan form that he was stepping down, saying he “don’t think there’s any real impact.” [he] could do there’.
Musk’s appearance in the Twitter Space came after he announced he was stepping down as Twitter CEO after being defeated in his own disastrous poll on the platform. Pictured: Musk is seen in Qatar on Sunday watching the final game of the tournament
George Hotz (pictured in 2007, aged 17) is a famous “hacker” known for iOS jailbreaks and reverse engineering the PlayStation 3 (and subsequent Sony lawsuit). He was hired by Musk in November to help him “fix” Twitter, but quit on Wednesday
The Twitter space came after Musk announced he was stepping down as Twitter CEO after being defeated in his own disastrous poll on the platform.
The Tesla boss said when he uploaded the survey that he would “stick” to the result — even if users said he should resign.
The result was confirmed Monday morning, with a total of 57.5 percent out of more than 17 million accounts voting for his resignation from his position.
And on Wednesday, he confirmed he would step down from the role he took on during his $44 billion acquisition – once he finds a replacement “stupid enough” to replace him.
The billionaire tweeted: “I will step down as CEO as soon as I find someone stupid enough to take the job! After that, I will just lead the software and server teams.
Musk, who is usually a prolific user of the platform and also runs automaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX, did not tweet in the immediate hours after the poll.
He broke his silence just before 11.30pm Monday when he replied: “Interesting” to a suggestion by convicted fraudster Kim Dotcom that the poll results were skewed by fake accounts.
In response to another user’s suggestion that “blue subscribers should be the only ones who can vote in political polls,” Musk said, “Good point. Twitter will make this change.”
His Twitter stream continued into the early hours of Tuesday, linking to the site’s World Cup stats and laughing at a satirical version of Bruce Wayne conducting a poll about his retirement as Batman.
Rapper Snoop Dogg jokingly conducted his own poll, asking his followers if he should replace Musk by asking the question, “Should I do Twitter?”
After ten hours, 81.8 percent of the one million people who voted on his poll said yes.
It also came after more revelations via the Twitter Files, the latest release of which revealed that FBI officials were demanding executives at the social media giant give them information on how they enforce safety online.