Billionaires: They’re just like us. That’s what Elon Musk reminded us of when he started using X, the social media network that he bought for $US44 billion, to resolve his personal tech support problems.
The saga began over the weekend when Musk posted about the problems he was facing with his Windows PC on X. The billionaire was miffed that he couldn’t complete the setup process without apparently creating a Microsoft account, which he didn’t want to do because that meant “giving their AI access to my computer.” (It’s not clear what Musk was referring to here, but we should point out that customers can opt-out of sharing their data with Microsoft Copilot, the AI chatbot integrated into Windows 11)
Musk’s post eventually got pinged by Community Notes, a crowdsourced fact-checking feature on X, which stated that the option he was referring to was still available and proceeded to provide a link to the process. However, the billionaire dug his heels in.
“Community Notes is failing here. This option no longer exists,” Musk said on Sunday.
Community Notes contributors, which are unpaid volunteers, weren’t having it.
“Yes it is. However, it’s not possible in the same, simple way it used to be on Windows 10 but rather requires some tricky workarounds that the average Andy might not be aware of,” read a note under Musk’s tweet.
After going back and forth with other users who tried to help him out, the billionaire eventually manages to set up his new PC without creating a Microsoft account on Sunday night. The experience essentially proved the Community Notes right, which I imagine is the only reason why they haven’t been scrubbed from Musk’s tweets.
But Musk wasn’t ready to let go of the situation yet. One day later, he reached out to Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, on X to ask him to please let people set up a Windows PC without creating a new account. Oh, and could he fix the email requirement, too?
“Satya, I don’t mean to be a pest, but please allow people setting up a new Windows PC to skip creating a Microsoft account. This option disappears if the computer is connected to WiFi. Also, even if you do want to sign up, it won’t allow you use a work email address and I only *have* work emails addresses!” Musk wrote.
As of the publication of this article on Monday afternoon, Nadella still hadn’t replied.