Editorial: Zuckerberg and Musk’s childish billionaire cage match

This is what it has come to: Two of the world’s most important technology leaders are talking of a billionaires’ cage match.

Rather than spending their time addressing the very serious threats to democracy posed by their social media platforms, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter’s Elon Musk are posting about their plans for going mano a mano in an MMA fight in Las Vegas.

Sheesh! Grow up!

This sort of behavior gives tech a bad name. Silicon Valley was once led by the likes of David Packard, Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce and Steve Jobs. Now it’s, “send in the clowns.” And, unfortunately, there are no grown-ups in the room willing to rein them in. If one could imagine a recipe for further undermining confidence in the industry, this is it.

Zuckerberg and Musk should engage in serious discussions about how to regulate generative artificial intelligence, guard against social media dissemination of misinformation, and tech companies’ monopolistic practices that are eviscerating local news outlets. And they might even want to think about protecting the value of their, and their stockholders’, investments.

Musk runs the biggest electric vehicle company in the world; analysts have downgraded Tesla’s stock four times in the past week. He runs SpaceX, which saw it’s Starship rocket explode four minutes after liftoff in April.  He also owns what was once one of the most innovative and prominent social media platforms, but Twitter’s value has plunged by two-thirds since he bought it.

Zuckerberg heads the world’s biggest social media platform, which has consistently proven itself incapable of protecting users’ privacy, shielding children from predatory advertising and guarding against dissemination of false political propaganda.

One would think that with the 2024 elections looming, these two tech leaders would want to demonstrate that they recognize the importance their companies play in the survival of democracy — and that they are thoughtful, serious leaders poised to address these societal challenges.

Instead, they are demonstrating — once again — that they are a pair of overgrown children.

Apparently, this silliness began because Zuckerberg’s company is working on a service that would rival Twitter. Musk’s tweeted comment, “I’m up for a cage match if he is.” To which Zuckerberg retorted on Instagram, “Send Me Location.”

Whether the fight actually takes place almost doesn’t matter. The mere prospect of it serves to distract from the billions Musk has lost on his Twitter purchase, and from Zuckerberg’s threats to block users from sharing news articles on his platforms if profit-sharing regulations are passed in Canada and California.

While Zuckerberg and Musk plan to meet behind the playground for fisticuffs, as onlookers circle and gleefully shout “fight, fight,” the school is burning. And these two tech leaders don’t seem to care.