GM halts Twitter advertising to assess its direction under Elon Musk

General Motors has temporarily stopped paying for Twitter ads after Elon Musk closed a $44 billion deal to acquire the website, according to CNBC. Musk, as you know, is also the CEO of Tesla, which beat out GM and all its competitors to become the most valuable car manufacturer in the US a few years ago. The company told the news organization it was engaging with Twitter to figure out its direction under the new owner. It also said it was normal for the company to pause paid advertising in the face of a “significant change in a media platform.”

GM said in an emailed statement:

“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is the normal course of business with a significant change in media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue. “

Over the past few years, the company has expanded its commitment to providing consumers with more EV options in an effort to better compete with Tesla. The automaker announced a $35 billion investment for its combined EV and autonomous driving efforts in 2021. Earlier this year, the company also revealed it is building a third Ultium factory in the U.S. that will produce batteries for its electric vehicles .

Shortly after officially taking control of Twitter, Musk posted a message to advertisers on his account in an attempt to ease their concerns. “There has been a lot of speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising. Most of them were wrong,” he wrote. He also said that advertising, “when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you…” For this to be true, “it’s essential to show Twitter users ads that are as relevant as possible suited to their needs.”

Here is Musk’s full statement: