By Reuters | Updated: 22 June 2023
Twitter has resumed paying Alphabet’s Google Cloud for its services, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg News reported the news earlier on Wednesday.
A report from Platformer earlier this month said Twitter had refused to pay its Google Cloud bills as its contract came up for renewal.
Linda Yaccarino, the social media network’s new CEO, helped restore Twitter’s relationship with Google, and the two companies will explore a deeper partnership that involves Google’s advertising spending on Twitter and its use of the social media company’s data access tool, the source said.
After Elon Musk bought Twitter in October, the company cut costs aggressively and has faced lawsuits from landlords, vendors, and consultants over unpaid bills.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment, while a Google spokesperson declined to comment.
Before Musk’s takeover of the social media platform last year, Twitter reportedly signed a multi-year contract with Google related to fighting spam and protecting accounts, among other things.
The Platformer report earlier this month said that failure to pay cloud bills could result in the social media company’s trust and safety teams being crippled. The report did not give details on how the conflict between the companies could hinder Twitter’s trust and safety teams. The Information said Twitter has been trying to renegotiate its contract with Google since at least March.
Twitter hosts some services on its server and houses others on the cloud platforms of Amazon and Google, Platformer said.
Since Musk’s acquisition, Twitter has cut costs dramatically and laid off thousands of employees. Musk ordered the company to cut infrastructure costs, such as spending on cloud services, by $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,243 crore), a source told Reuters in November.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
