LocationsWho Controls & Regulates Technology?
By Muhammad Abbas Taqi | Data & Analytics Officer, Development Policy Unit, UNDP Pakistan
The tech-industrial complex encapsulates the entanglement of technology, corporate power, and state interests that are shaping the 21st century global order. Who controls and regulates technology?
On January 17, 1961, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his farewell address on national television, warning the American people about the dangers of a "military-industrial complex." He cautioned, "the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
Sixty years later, on January 15, 2025, President Joe Biden, in his farewell address, warned of the rise of a "tech-industrial complex", and said that the U.S. was turning into an oligarchy, where tech billionaires held dangerous levels of power and influence, “enabling the abuse of power.” His warning came as President-elect Donald Trump prepared to begin his second term with an administration dominated by tech industry leaders.
The proliferation of technologies has always been at the root of power. The military-industrial complex was informed by technological breakthroughs in space exploration, telecommunications, electronics and computing, among others. The rise of the “tech-industrial complex” was accelerated through the rise of Silicon Valley and the nineties internet boom. The tech-industrial complex encapsulates the entanglement of technology, corporate power and state interests that are shaping the 21st century global order. In other words, it raises critical questions about who controls and regulates technology?
Techno-Feudalism
Today there are a handful of companies that control the digital economy. Otherwise known as ‘Big Tech’, companies such as Google, Amazon and Meta are ubiquitous and among the world’s most profitable. This has triggered fears by experts, of the rise of a new form of ‘feudalism’ where big tech controls our digital ecosystems, from search engines and social media platforms to cloud computing infrastructure.
Yanis Varoufakis, the renowned Greek politician and economist popularised the term ‘techno-feudalism’. In this new digital feudal system, users generate value through their data but have little control over how it is used. Small businesses, too, are often fully dependent on these platforms as they rely on them for visibility and sales. Even governments are increasingly dependent on tech companies for essential services, from cloud storage to data mining and analytics. This concentration of power in the hands of a few corporations poses significant risks to governance, democracy, competition and innovation.
Tech billionaires including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos were given prime positions at Donald Trump's inauguration, in an unprecedented demonstration of their power and influence on US politics.
Arrival of Artificial Intelligence
Now, add to this the immense power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies - perhaps the most consequential technology of our time. The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the internet, and the mobile phone. It offers profound possibilities and risks for the economy, security, society and our very humanity. AI is a general-purpose technology that will shape all sectors of the economy. Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it. It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get healthcare and communicate with each other.
Big tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet are collectively expected to pour over US$200 billion in capital investment in AI this year, with plans to spend hundreds of billions more in the coming years.1 They will build upon their tech infrastructure, and solidify that dominance with AI. AI also requires access to Big Tech’s cloud computing platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. This dependency should raise legitimate concerns. Therefore, steering the technology’s development towards the common good is an urgent need.
AI algorithms are also susceptible to bias, including racial, gender and socio-economic biases.2 These biases can stem from skewed training datasets that do not represent diverse populations or from algorithmic design flaws that perpetuate existing societal discrimination. AI developers such as OpenAI, conceal aspects of their operations, including the sources of their training data, the safeguards implemented in their models, the enforcement of their terms of service and the potential harms associated with their products such as addictive use and underage access. They obscure the extent to which their platforms are leveraged for global monetization through targeted advertising.
The Way Forward
AI can enhance our lives in many ways, from improving food production to bolstering resilience against natural disasters. But unless we address the nature of digital feudalism, the extractive behavior that underpins AI model development, and the current lack of regulatory capacity in the public sector, any attempt to unleash more robust, sustainable growth will crash on the rocks of new and deeper inequalities.
As we navigate the complexities of the digital age, it is crucial for individuals, businesses and policymakers to unite in addressing the challenges posed by digital feudalism. Advocating for stronger data protection laws that prioritize user privacy and autonomy is a vital first step. Supporting decentralized technologies is another critical avenue for reducing the concentration of power in the hands of a few tech giants. Promoting open standards and interoperability can help mitigate the lock-in effects of proprietary systems, giving users more freedom to choose the services that best meet their needs.
Also, key is the creation of independent digital infrastructure initiatives that includes cloud computing, advanced chips, AI and data, all governed as public goods rather than through monopolistic enterprises.
Public awareness and advocacy will be crucial for driving meaningful change. By staying informed about digital rights and the practices of Big Tech companies, individuals can make more conscious decisions about their digital lives, and make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind.
1. Ciklum, ‘AI and Big Tech Transformation: What to Expect as Big Tech Doubles Down on AI’, Ciklum, 2024
2. Zhao, Y., Li, M., & Chen, J., ‘Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: A Review of Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions’, ScienceDirect, 2023