Elon Musk Says He’ll Build His Own Smartphone If Tech Giants Ban Twitter

Nearly every day there’s a new development on Twitter, with Chief Twit Elon Musk recently announcing a multicolored verification scheme that will allow users to differentiate companies from government officials and individual personalities. 

Now, the billionaire has said he is considering developing his own smartphone, should Apple and Google choose to deplatform the social media network. 

In response to a tweet by conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler, the CEO says that while he hopes the situation will not come to that, “if there is no other choice,” he would be open to making an alternative smartphone. 

“If Apple and Google boot Twitter from their app stores, Elon Musk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy right?” the tweet challenges.

According to Gizmodo, there’s been buzz surrounding Twitter’s future on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, considering Musk’s decision to reinstate once-banned accounts in light of his commitment to “free speech.” 

Using Musk’s favorite pastime of Twitter polls, Wheeler asked her followers if they would be open to a ‘tELONphone’, with the results ending in a narrow split between 51.2% indicating yes and 48.8% saying no. 

With Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink, OpenAI, and now Twitter to take care of, will Musk really be able to start an additional smartphone brand?

[via Gizmodo and Elon Musk, cover image via Dimarik16 | Dreamstime.com]