A patron, or patrons, could pay twitter to operate at a loss. There are many wealthy authoritarian states that would welcome additional surveillance tools for identifying and targeting undesirables (to enable torturing and/or killing) and obtaining technical staff for such a business pivot would not be that difficult. The only problem is the negative reputation twitter has with policy makers at this time. The likes of Edelman, BAE Systems Inc., Academi and RANE are able to enjoy their niches in this growing international industry and operate in the USA at the same time by cultivating friends in the Beltway and it's unclear whether Yaccarino and Musk have the right mindset to even hire the people who can make Twitter corporate enough to fit in around there.