by Tom Valovic
April 25, 2023
Conclusion:
(Common Dreams)
Goodbye Nation States?
As we see democratic principles slowly vaporize even in Western nations, the fact that Big Tech continues to consolidate its power globally over and above that of nation-states is deeply concerning. However (just to keep things nice and confusing) sometimes it does this in cooperation with governments via public/private partnerships, a kind of Faustian bargain.
The Time magazine article cited …(below) offered this startling observation: "Even if computer scientists succeed in making sure the AIs don't wipe us out, their increasing centrality to the global economy could make the Big Tech companies who control it vastly more powerful. They could become not just the richest corporations in the world—charging whatever they want for commercial use of this critical infrastructure—but also geopolitical actors to rival nation-states."
Some might argue that this has already happened and the nexus of world power is now corporate-leaning. The world's biggest tech companies are now richer and more powerful than most countries. According to an article in PC Week in 2021 discussing Apple's dominance: "By taking the current valuation of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and others, then comparing them to the GDP of countries on a map, we can see just how crazy things have become… Valued at $2.2 trillion, the Cupertino company is richer than 96% of the world. In fact, only seven countries currently outrank the maker of the iPhone financially."
For the moment, these trends appear to be unstoppable, given the levels of corporate investment already at stake and the supine posture and dependency of governments on their largesse. The best available response for the moment is simply greater public awareness and a commitment to face the contours of this brave new technocratic world head-on and with clear vision. Given the astonishingly out-of-control power of the Big Tech sector, it's also crucial to realize that simply regulating these systems while allowing them to continue to siphon off the power of traditional governments will not be enough to preserve our quality of life going forward.
Read more of the Common Dreams article here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/b ... -nations
For the cited Times article: https://time.com/6255952/ai-impact-cha ... t-google/
For the cited PC Weekly article of 2021: https://www.pcmag.com/news/worlds-most ... ountries
From the PC Weekly article:
caltrek’s comment: The valuation of Microsoft at $1.8 is actually lower than other estimates provided in this thread, which put its valuation at over $2 trillion.Microsoft…(has) a …$1.8 trillion valuation…only nine countries are worth more money…
Amazon is valued at …$1.6 trillion….
Alphabet, Google's parent company, is valued at $1.4 trillion, putting it ahead of all but 12 countries.