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Bob Iger reveals bots were already an issue when Disney tried to buy Twitter
Former Disney CEO Bob Iger can relate to Elon Musk and his decision to back out of his Twitter acquisition deal. This was because Disney had tried to purchase Twitter before, and even then, bots were already seen as an issue on the platform.
Iger recently shared his experiences during an interview at the Code Conference. While Disney’s attempt to purchase Twitter in 2016 had been known for some time as it was part of Iger’s 2019 memoir, the former Disney CEO shared more details about the deal in his recent interview. As noted by Iger, Twitter would have been a pretty great distribution platform for Disney, but it simply had too many headaches that came with it.
Among these were bots. Iger noted that while Disney didn’t estimate then that most of Twitter’s users were not real people, the entertainment giant, with Twitter’s help, came to the conclusion that a substantial portion of the social media platform’s users were not real. This discounted the value of Twitter by a pretty notable margin.
But while bots could be seen as a given for a social media company, the prevalent hate speech that happens on Twitter ultimately pushed Disney to pull the plug on its acquisition attempt. A platform that has the potential to do much harm and contains so much toxicity, after all, is pretty off-brand for a company like Disney, which is aimed at providing fun to as many people as possible.
Following is Bob Iger’s statement on the matter, as per Vox.
“We were intent on going into the streaming business. We needed a technology solution. We have all this great IP. We weren’t a technology company. How do we get that IP to consumers around the world? And we were kicking tires left and right. We thought about developing ourselves. Five years, $500 million. It wasn’t the money. It was the time because the world was changing fast. And at the same time, we heard that Twitter was contemplating a sale.
“We enter the process immediately, looking at Twitter as the solution: a global distribution platform. It was viewed as sort of a social network. We were viewing it as something completely different. We could put news, sports, entertainment, (and) reach the world. And frankly, it would have been a phenomenal solution, distribution-wise.
“Then, after we sold the whole concept to the Disney board and the Twitter board, and we’re really ready to execute — the negotiation was just about done — I went home, contemplated it for a weekend, and thought, ‘I’m not looking at this as carefully as I need to look at it.’ Yes, it’s a great solution from a distribution perspective. But it would come with so many other challenges and complexities that, as a manager of a great global brand, I was not prepared to take on a major distraction and having to manage circumstances that weren’t even close to anything that we had faced before.
“Interestingly enough, because I read the news these days, we did look very carefully at all of the Twitter users — I guess they’re called users? — and we, at that point, estimated with some of Twitter’s help that a substantial portion — not a majority — were not real. I don’t remember the number, but we discounted the value heavily. But that was built into our economics. Actually, the deal that we had was pretty cheap.
“Then you have to look, of course, at all the hate speech and potential to do as much harm as good. We’re in the business of manufacturing fun at Disney — of doing nothing but good, even though there are others today that criticize Disney for the opposite, which is wrong. This was just something that we were not ready to take on, and I was not ready to take on as the CEO of a company, and I thought it would have been irresponsible,” Iger said.
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Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
Tesla has rolled out a price incentive in Norway, effectively offsetting a notable VAT increase that hit electric vehicle buyers at the start of 2026.
The move follows Tesla Norway’s stunning finish in 2025, where the company saw substantial sales during the final weeks of the year.
A “Tesla bonus”
Once the VAT increase kicked in at the start of 2026, Tesla Norway’s sales cooled almost immediately, as noted in a CarUp report. Tesla’s response was swift, with the electric vehicle maker rolling out what it calls a “Tesla bonus.”
This bonus effectively cuts prices by up to 50,000 kronor across eight model variants. All versions of the Tesla Model Y qualify for the incentive, along with most Tesla Model 3 trims, save for the base entry-level model.
This means that for Tesla Norway’s best-selling vehicles, the bonus effectively restores pricing to pre-VAT levels. This blunts the impact of the new tax and makes Tesla’s vehicle offerings competitive again in Europe’s most EV-saturated market.
Stabilizing demand
In addition to the “Tesla bonus,” the electric car maker is also offering a promotional interest rate for up to three years, with terms varying by model. The incentive applies to orders placed between January 9 and March 31, 2026, with delivery required by the end of the first quarter.
The stakes are high in Norway, where electric vehicles dominate new-car registrations. From the vehicles that were sold in 2025, 96% of new cars sold were fully electric. And from this number, Tesla and its Model Y made their dominance felt. This was highlighted by Geir Inge Stokke, director of OFV, who noted that Tesla was able to achieve its stellar results despite its small vehicle lineup.
“Taking almost 20% market share during a year with record-high new car sales is remarkable in itself. When a brand also achieves such volumes with so few models, it says a lot about both demand and Tesla’s impact on the Norwegian market,” Stokke stated.
Elon Musk
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
SpaceX emerged as a clear beneficiary of the Trump administration’s renewed push to accelerate military innovation, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth openly praised Elon Musk’s private space enterprise during a visit to the company’s Starbase launch site in Texas.
The remarks highlighted Musk’s improving relationship with the White House, as well as SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense.
Hegseth embraces Elon Musk’s pace
Speaking at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, Hegseth criticized what he described as a “risk-averse culture” among traditional defense contractors and called for faster innovation modeled after Musk’s approach. He confirmed that the Department of Defense plans to integrate Musk’s Grok AI platform into Pentagon systems, which is part of the administration’s efforts to make the U.S. military an “AI-first warfighting force.”
Hegseth stated that the Pentagon intends to deploy AI models across both classified and unclassified networks, signaling a willingness to push past earlier efforts to limit military use of artificial intelligence. His comments aligned closely with President Donald Trump’s recent call for a $500 billion increase in defense spending, Bloomberg News noted. Trump has also warned major contractors that slower production and shareholder-focused practices could put future contracts at risk.
While Hegseth criticized legacy defense firms, SpaceX was held up as an example of how aggressive timelines, vertical integration, and iterative development could reshape defense strategies. “We need to be blunt here; we can no longer afford to wait a decade for our legacy prime contractors to deliver a perfect system. Winning requires a new playbook. Elon wrote it with his algorithm: question every requirement, delete the dumb ones and accelerate like hell,” Hegseth said.
SpaceX’s expanding defense role comes into focus
SpaceX has become one of the U.S. government’s most important aerospace partners. The company holds roughly $4 billion in NASA contracts to develop Starship into a lunar lander, while also serving as a key launch provider for sensitive national security payloads using its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
During the visit, Musk highlighted that his ambitions extend beyond defense contracts, reiterating long-term goals of interplanetary travel and eventual exploration beyond the solar system. Still, the optics of the event reinforced how closely SpaceX’s capabilities now align with U.S. strategic priorities.
The appearance also marked another step in Musk’s political rehabilitation after a public falling-out with the White House last year. Since leaving his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has gradually reengaged with the administration, reconnecting with U.S. President Donald Trump during slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s tribute and attending events at the White House. Trump’s also recently suggested that Starlink could help restore internet access in Iran.
Tesla has launched a new Model Y configuration in the “Premium” trim, and it comes with three highly requested features that have launched in markets outside of the U.S. and in other trims.
Tesla announced on Monday night that it has officially launched the Model Y Premium in a seven-seat configuration, which also comes standard with a 16″ touchscreen and black headliner, both of which are featured in the Model Y Performance trim.
The seven-seat configuration is highly requested by consumers and helps fill out the more spacious SUV offering that the lineup has missed outside of the Model X, which prices out many consumers. This new upgrade only costs $2,500 extra for all three features, bringing the cash price to $48,990.
This also comes with the larger 16” touchscreen! pic.twitter.com/aiAxWUTKZa
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The move to add the seven-seat configuration with the black headliner and additional screen size is a welcome addition, as many Tesla fans have asked the company to come out with an SUV with more seating capacity. Although it is not a full-size SUV, the additional seating will certainly attract some buyers with bigger families.
It appears the third row is slightly more spacious than the past iteration of the seven-seat Model Y, which was available in the previous design pre-Juniper:
Credit: Tesla
However, it definitely still appears to be pretty cramped in terms of legroom. It will definitely be a seating arrangement for smaller passengers, mostly reserved for children.
The other two upgrades are the black headliner, which was launched in other markets and in the Model Y Performance. Many owners have wanted this change, and Tesla listened, but is only offering it with the seven-seat configuration. It also has a larger 16″ touchscreen, also present in the Model Y Performance exclusively:
Credit: Tesla
It is a nice touch to add these highly requested features to the all-electric crossover, which was the best-selling vehicle in the world for the third consecutive year.
Tesla counters Norway’s VAT hike with dedicated consumer bonus
SpaceX gains favor as Pentagon embraces Musk-style defense reform
