News
Twitter Will Default To A For You Page, Just Like TikTok
Twitter is making the algorithmic feed the default option, and the star icon that lets you swap feeds is going too.
Twitter is rolling out changes to how users move between the algorithmically-driven timeline and the reverse chronological feed, making the former the new default.
iOS users will see the changes first, and the company has also removed the star button at the top right for switching between feeds. Instead, in place of the old controls, two tabs labeled “For You” and “Following” allow users to switch between timelines.
TikTok users will instantly notice that the “For You” naming convention follows the popular video platform’s lead. The new default view will show tweets from people that you follow out of order, interspersed with tweets from profiles the algorithm thinks you may like.
Also Read: Starlink Teams Up With Elcome To Offer Maritime Internet
While the changes make it easier to switch between the two feeds, unfortunately, you’re shown the default “For You” timeline every time you relaunch the app. The changes come after controversial new CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the “main timeline should allow for an easy sideways swipe between top, latest, trending, and topics that you follow” and said that Twitter would be “making this change soon”.
So far, there isn’t an option to swipe to trending and followed topics, though the trending page is only a few taps away in the search menu.
News
Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict
Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.
Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.
“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.
The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.
The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.
Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.
Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power
The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.
So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.
-
News3 weeks agoApple’s First Folding iPhone Arrives Late To A Shrinking Market
-
News2 weeks agoTrip.com Is Betting An AI Agent Will Book Your Next Vacation
-
News2 weeks agoEgypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power
-
News2 weeks agoOKX Bets Streaming Perks Can Take Crypto Mainstream Across MENA
