Is Google More Like A Country Than A Company?

Governments around the world are struggling to take power back from the world’s biggest tech companies. In the US, House Democrats want to overhaul antitrust laws and force Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google to break into smaller companies. These brands wield a remarkable amount of wealth and power, and Alexis Wichowski has coined a new term for them: “net-states,” or companies that operate as sovereign entities. She joins us for a conversation with Financial Times reporter Patrick McGee about this phenomenon and her new book Information Trade: How Big Tech Conquers Countries, Challenges Our Rights and Transforms Our World.

 

Guests: 

Alexis Wichowski, Deputy Chief Technology Officer, City of New York; Professor, Columbia University

Patrick McGee, San Francisco Correspondent, Financial Times

 

If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.