Big Tech
Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo
Welcome to the Bullshit Economy
The Iowa caucus disaster is a function of a broken economic structure that rewards con artistry over competence. Read more
Ted S. Warren/AP Photo
The Silicon Valley Job Squeeze and the Boeing Chats
Today on TAP: David Dayen looks at the week’s most interesting stories Read more
Mark Lennihan/AP Photo
Silicon Valley’s Big Apple Gambit
The four biggest tech firms are all opening offices in a very specific section of Manhattan, which happens to be the home district of one of their chief antagonists in Washington. Read more
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Pharma-Funded ‘Dark Money’ Group Hosts House Staffers for California Junket
The staffers, several of whom work for reps on the subcommittee overseeing pharmaceuticals, met with executives from drug companies Merck and Genentech. Read more
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Ridiculous D.C. Invite of the Week: A Facebook Warning for Congress
A Capitol Hill event from the social media giant gives lawmaker staffs direct access to executives. Read more
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Big Tech’s Yes Men Reassure Each Other at Harvard Law Conference
A conference featuring a who’s who of Silicon Valley defenders preaches to the converted, with Trump antitrust regulators participating. Read more
Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
Following Mark Zuckerberg’s Hearing, FACEBOOK’s Libra Project Hangs in the Balance
The FACEBOOK CEO takes a beating before Congress, while dodging several key regulatory and governance issues about the virtual currency. Read more
Elaine Thompson/AP Photo
Amazon’s Battle in Seattle Is a Fight Against Worker Power
The e-commerce giant has dropped $1.45 million to buy the Seattle City Council and blunt a vibrant working-class movement. Read more
LM Otero/AP Photo
Google Is Profiting From Notorious Hate Group’s Ads
The tech giant appears to only be enforcing part of its hate speech ad policy when it comes to anti-immigrant hate group FAIR. Read more
Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
Zuckerberg Confronts the Reality of Libra’s Demise
Today on TAP: Libra isn’t happening, and the Facebook CEO knows it Read more
Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via AP Images
Moderate Democrats Back a Privacy Bill, Minus the Privacy
The New Democrat Coalition backs legislation that would preempt California’s strong tech privacy law, and replace it with next to nothing. Read more
Zhejiang Daily/Imaginechina via AP Images
Where Are the Workers When We Talk About the Future of Work?
CEOs, Silicon Valley investors, and techno-academics talk to themselves about new technologies, but workers must have a say in these debates as well. Read more
Ted S. Warren/AP Photo
Seattle’s Biggest Corporations Try to Buy the City Council
Led by Amazon, which has poured $1.4 million into defeating socialist and progressive candidates, the city’s corporate sector wants to stop dead any talk of higher taxes funding public services. Read more
Shizuo Kambayashi/AP Photo
SoftBank’s Blurry Vision
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son lost $70 billion when the first tech bubble burst. His Vision Fund is heavily invested in practically every tech IPO disaster this year. Read more
Elaine Thompson/AP Photo
Out With ALEC, In With Corporations Writing Their Own Laws
As the corporate bill mill wanes in influence, large businesses are taking matters into their own hands. Read more
Andrew Harnik/AP Photo
How Neoliberal Policy Shaped the Internet—and What to Do About It Now
Unrestrained digital markets have given us monopoly, pervasive surveillance, and powerful vectors of disinformation. But a new agenda is emerging to turn things around. Read more
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The Hacked States of America
Netflix’s ‘The Great Hack’ director Karim Amer discusses how stolen personal data are manipulated to advance demagoguery and disinformation. Read more
Rob Gillies/AP Photo
Disrupting Democracy: When Big Tech Takes Over a City
Google partner Sidewalk Labs wants to remake the Toronto waterfront as a privately run digital development. It may really be a digital dystopia. Read more
Yichuan Cao/Sipa USA via AP Images
Google Is Like Facebook—but a Lot Smarter
Unlike Mark Zuckerberg’s company, Google knows how to wield soft power to avoid estranging Democrats. Read more
Gunnar Rathbun/Invision for Walmart/AP Images
The Jobs Really Most Threatened by Machines
It’s not truckers. It’s cashiers. Read more
