Biden takes aim at ‘tech industrial complex,’ echoes Eisenhower By Reuters
Written by Steve Holland and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Wednesday in his farewell speech that an American oligarchy is growing among a few tech billionaires who have amassed “a lot of dangerous power.”
Biden warned Americans about the “technological industrial complex,” words that echoed President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell speech. Eisenhower, completing eight years as president, had warned of the danger of a “military industrial complex” gaining power in the United States. .
“Today, an oligarchy is emerging in America with extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and the shot that everyone deserves to move forward,” Biden said from the Oval Office.
He didn’t mention names, but Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has not only accumulated a lot of wealth but has become a powerful adviser to Donald Trump, the Republican who will take over the presidency from Biden on Monday.
Musk, along with Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, CEOs of Amazon (NASDAQ:) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:), will feature prominently at Trump’s inauguration, sitting with Republican cabinet appointees and elected officials.
The owner of social media platform X, Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump win the November election, corporate documents show, and other social media companies contributed heavily to Trump’s inauguration.
MAJOR PARTS OF FINANCIAL FIELDS
Biden referenced Eisenhower’s speech in his 15-minute message.
“Six decades later, I am equally concerned about the possible rise of the technological industrial complex. It may also cause our country real dangers. The American people are buried under a mass of false and disrespectful information, which allows the abuse of power,” he said.
“The free media is collapsing. The pillars are disappearing. Social media is ceasing to look at the truth,” Biden said.
The stock value of the seven largest US technology companies has risen so much in recent years that a Wall Street analyst dubbed them “The Magnificent Seven.” The combined value of the group, which includes Apple (NASDAQ: ), Tesla, Nvidia (NASDAQ: ) and Meta, has risen 46% over the past year, far outpacing the entire benchmark share index.
Biden also warned of the danger of artificial intelligence and the need to ensure control of what he called “the most important technology of our time, perhaps of all time.”
“We must ensure that AI is safe and reliable and good for all mankind. In the age of AI, it is more important than ever that people should rule and, as a country of freedom, America, not China, should lead the world in the development of AI,” he said.
Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, recently scrapped its US fact-checking program and eased restrictions on debates about controversial topics such as immigration and gender identity, prompting criticism from conservatives like Trump.
Musk limited content moderation on X after buying the platform, formerly known as Twitter.
Eisenhower’s term “military-industrial complex” often refers to entrenched interests between the armed forces and the for-profit companies that manufacture their weapons and provide services. The term is also used to refer to relationships with members of Congress who are key to political support for spending on weapons programs and promoting political donations.
