New Oligarchy: Trump, Big Tech, and Seizure of Global Future
As Donald Trump embarks on his second term in the White House, the relationship between his administration and America’s digital giants has transformed into something unprecedented and deeply unsettling. A powerful oligarchy is crystallizing, with the world’s most influential tech barons — the heads of Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Tesla — aligning their fortunes with the ambitions of a president determined to reassert American dominance on the global stage. Together, they are shaping a future where the lines between corporate power, state influence, and cutting-edge technology blur into indistinction. This is not merely a partnership; it is the fusion of power structures, one that risks redefining the essence of American democracy.
At the heart of this convergence lies the race for supremacy in artificial intelligence. Over the past two years, the U.S. tech sector has poured unprecedented sums into AI research and development. Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon collectively funnelled over $246 billion into AI in 2024 alone, with projections suggesting this figure will soar beyond $320 billion in 2025. These investments are not simply corporate bets on future profitability; they represent a strategic alignment with the national security vision promoted by Trump’s administration. The White House has made clear that AI is no longer just a commercial frontier—it is the backbone of American power projection in the 21st century.
Trump’s approach is emblematic of a fundamental shift in U.S. political-economic dynamics. During his inaugural speech, the presence of tech titans like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, and Sundar Pichai seated closer to the podium than state governors and political veterans was more than mere symbolism. It was a declaration: the United States would be ruled not just from the halls of government but from the boardrooms of Silicon Valley. These individuals are no longer mere lobbyists or external players; they are integrated into the very architecture of power.
The most striking example of this merger is the Stargate project—a $500 billion initiative linking OpenAI, Oracle, Japan’s SoftBank, and Saudi capital. This endeavour, heavily endorsed by Trump, is poised to supercharge America’s AI capabilities, ensuring its technological supremacy.
Yet, the costs of this ambition extend far beyond dollars. Stargate has been accompanied by sweeping deregulation, dismantling the ethical guardrails introduced under the Biden administration. Trump has framed this deregulatory push as essential for the “flourishing of humanity,” but critics warn it effectively places the future of AI development in the hands of corporate titans whose primary allegiance is to profit, not public welfare.
Alphabet’s recent policy reversal serves as a case study in this new paradigm. Once committed to ethical AI principles, including a ban on developing military applications, the company quietly rescinded this self-imposed restriction. Alphabet now embraces military partnerships under the guise of safeguarding “democratic values” and ensuring “Western technological leadership.” The timing was no coincidence. This pivot aligned perfectly with Trump’s demands for tech firms to prioritize national security interests, a stance that opens the door to lucrative defence contracts and cements Alphabet’s place in the administration’s inner circle.
What is emerging is not merely a military-industrial complex for the digital age, but something more potent: an information-industrial state.
The giants who control global platforms—from search engines to social networks to cloud infrastructure—wield unparalleled power over public discourse and perception. Trump understands this dynamic intimately. His ability to bypass traditional media and rally his base through platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook is foundational to his political resurgence. The tech oligarchs, in turn, recognize that a symbiotic relationship with Trump protects their interests, shields them from antitrust scrutiny, and secures privileged access to state contracts.
This convergence is profound. The narrative control exercised by platforms like Facebook and YouTube allows for the subtle modulation of political discourse, the suppression of dissent, and the amplification of government-approved messaging. This is not overt censorship; it is a more insidious form of influence—a filtering of reality that moulds public perception while preserving the illusion of choice. Under Trump’s reign, this capacity is no longer incidental; it is central to governance.
Moreover, the erosion of internal corporate checks is accelerating.
Meta and Amazon, once vocal about diversity and social responsibility, have quietly dismantled these initiatives. The rationale is clear: under Trump, conformity to his vision of a deregulated, America-first capitalism is the price of access. Tech giants are reshaping their internal cultures to align with the ideological contours of the new administration, consolidating their role as both economic powerhouses and political instruments.
The international implications are equally stark. Trump’s foreign policy, with its emphasis on technological supremacy, envisions AI as the linchpin of geopolitical dominance. The rhetoric of defending Western values masks a more pragmatic goal: outpacing China in the AI arms race. American tech companies, emboldened by government backing and freed from regulatory constraints, are now at the forefront of weaponizing AI for both military applications and surveillance. This is a technological arms race disguised as moral leadership.
What emerges is a world in which the United States, driven by the intertwined ambitions of its president and digital oligarchs, redefines the very nature of power. The battlefield is not merely physical but informational and computational. Victory is measured not only in territorial gains but in controlling the algorithms that shape reality itself.
This oligarchic drift is not inevitable, but it is accelerating. The fusion of Trumpism with Silicon Valley’s algorithmic empire is forging a new kind of state—one where private wealth and public authority converge, and the future is coded by those who own the machines.
Whether this new order will safeguard freedom or suffocate it – it is becoming more and more a rhetorical question. Although I would like to be wrong.
Photo: Elon Musk (source).
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