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For months, the chatter in Silicon Valley has centered on whether or not Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk would truly take part in a “cage match” as they mentioned they’d. However after a flurry of exercise and guarantees from each side, it regarded as if the momentum behind the mega-mogul face-off had fizzled out.
It’s changing into clearer what the holdup could also be: Mr. Musk.
Mr. Zuckerberg, chief govt of Meta, mentioned on Sunday on Threads, his new social media app, that he recommended the 2 males take part in an final preventing match on Aug. 26. However, he added, Mr. Musk — who owns X, the corporate previously often known as Twitter — had but to substantiate the date.
Mr. Zuckerberg’s feedback adopted an early-morning post on X from Mr. Musk, who mentioned that he deliberate to livestream the cage match on X in addition to elevate cash for charity by means of the platform.
“I’m not holding my breath,” Mr. Zuckerberg mentioned in his submit to Threads, a rival platform he rolled out final month that some had referred to as the Twitter killer.
The 2 billionaires have engaged in a back-and-forth sport of each skilled and private one-upsmanship for a lot of the previous 10 years. That rivalry has solely elevated in current months, as Mr. Zuckerberg shortly spun up Threads after he witnessed the difficulties Mr. Musk had in his takeover of Twitter.
Threads noticed an early burst of enthusiasm, breaking information for the quickest variety of downloads for any app in historical past in its first week. The corporate mentioned it should now concentrate on including new options that hold individuals coming again because the preliminary pleasure has cooled. That has put stress on Mr. Musk to proceed introducing new options to X, which he has indicated he needs to place as an “every part app” akin to these widespread in China, Japan and South Korea.
Their brinkmanship got here to a head in June, when Mr. Musk, in a reply to somebody on Twitter, mentioned that he would struggle Mr. Zuckerberg in a bodily cage match. The following day, Mr. Zuckerberg confirmed he was greater than prepared, and the 2 males entered into talks presided over by Dana White, president of the Final Preventing Championship. It appeared as if the struggle “would possibly truly occur,” Mr. Musk later mentioned in a web-based dialogue.
However these talks seem to have stalled in current weeks, whilst Mr. Musk sometimes joked on-line that he was training for the match with friends. In response, Mr. Zuckerberg posted photographs of his personal coaching routine with skilled Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters. In July, Mr. Zuckerberg posted a photograph of himself shirtless after a coaching match, boasting a newly chiseled physique and affirming his zeal for the game.
A spokesperson for Meta declined to remark. Mr. Musk didn’t reply to a request for remark.
On Sunday, Mr. Zuckerberg mentioned that Mr. Musk’s proposal to stream the struggle on X didn’t appear prudent, suggesting as a substitute that they do it on a platform that was “extra dependable” and in a position to instantly elevate cash for charity. (Mr. Musk’s platform suffered technical points and glitches over the previous 12 months, together with issues when he livestreamed his look with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who used Twitter to announce his candidacy for president.)
“I’m prepared right now,” Mr. Zuckerberg mentioned on Sunday. “I really like this sport and can proceed competing with individuals who prepare it doesn’t matter what occurs right here.”
Ryan Mac contributed reporting.
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