Twitter cancels Chirp developer conference two weeks before it was scheduled to begin

In another sign of the upheaval happening internally at Twitter, the company has called off its Chirp developer conference just two weeks before it was scheduled to take place on November 16th. The company alerted developers and other attendees in a brief note that didn’t provide a reason for the cancellation.

“The team at Twitter is hard at work right now to make Twitter better for everyone - including developers,” the message says. “While we are heads down working on some exciting things for you, we’ve decided to cancel our #Chirp Developer Conference.”

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on the reason for the cancellation. Members of the media received invitations to register for Chirp just two weeks ago. “Chirp is the first time we will bring our developer community from around the globe together in person to preview some new tools, discuss feedback, and celebrate the developers that are making it easier for people on Twitter to discover content, have safer conversations, and impact the greater good,” a Twitter spokesperson said at the time.

While sudden, the cancellation isn’t particularly shocking, given Musk’s recent takeover of the company. In addition to shaking up its leadership, he’s also vowed to significantly change the company’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, and is likely to make changes to content moderation and other policies. It wouldn’t be surprising if he also has a different vision for Twitter's developer strategy.

But for Twitter's developers, the cancellation will likely be a disappointment. The company has had a strained relationship with developers over the years, but has recently tried to revamp its developer platform with new APIs for researchers and third-party apps. Chirp was set to be Twitter’s first in-person developer conference since 2015. Now, like many other aspects of Twitter under Musk, the company’s plans for developers are once again uncertain.