(Washington) The bosses of Meta (Facebook) and X went off on the platform again on Sunday, with Mark Zuckerberg accusing Elon Musk of not taking the idea of their “fight” seriously.
The billionaires have been talking since the end of June of a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight supposed to oppose them in the flesh, the date of August 26 having even been suggested.
“I think we can all agree that Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” Zuckerberg wrote on Threads, a direct competitor platform to X launched last month by Meta.
“I offered a real date […] Elon didn’t confirm the date, then said he had to have surgery, and now he’s asking for a workout in my backyard instead,” he said. he continued.
Elon Musk immediately replied on his X platform: “Zuck is a wimp”.
Then he announced he would be heading to Silicon Valley on Monday before boasting, “I can’t wait to knock on his door tomorrow.”
In response to an X user who suspected him of not being so hot for the fight anymore, Elon Musk wrote, “he (Zuckerberg) can’t eat at Chick-fil-A, that would be cannibalism”, in reference to a chain of restaurants serving poultry.
The idea of this hypothetical fight seemed to take shape on Friday, Elon Musk even announcing on X a kind of peplum in Italy.
“I spoke to the Italian Prime Minister and the Minister of Culture. They’ve agreed to an extraordinary location,” he said, adding a single word in a second message: “Gladiator.”
“I love this sport and I’ve been ready to fight since Elon challenged me,” Mark Zuckerberg replied later that day on Threads.
But “we haven’t agreed on what he’s saying,” Zuckerberg continued, saying he wants to work “with professional organizations” like the UFC, the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts league, to frame this possible duel.
Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano confirmed he had spoken to Mr. Musk about “how to organize a big charity event evoking history”, but said that no match “would be held in Rome”.
But Elon Musk also mentioned Friday a “minor operation” for a “problem with (his) right shoulder blade rubbing against (his) ribs”.
“Recovery will only take a few months,” he added.
The two tech giants have clashed for years over their opposing views of the world, from politics to artificial intelligence, and their animosity seems to have increased in early July with the launch of Threads, a direct competitor to X.
