Megacorporations Watch Thread

[caltrek]

Big Tech Companies Are Becoming More Powerful Than Nation-States
by Tom Valovic
April 25, 2023

Conclusion:

(Common Dreams)
Goodbye Nation States?

As we see democratic principles slowly vaporize even in Western nations, the fact that Big Tech continues to consolidate its power globally over and above that of nation-states is deeply concerning. However (just to keep things nice and confusing) sometimes it does this in cooperation with governments via public/private partnerships, a kind of Faustian bargain.


The Time magazine article cited …(below) offered this startling observation: "Even if computer scientists succeed in making sure the AIs don't wipe us out, their increasing centrality to the global economy could make the Big Tech companies who control it vastly more powerful. They could become not just the richest corporations in the world—charging whatever they want for commercial use of this critical infrastructure—but also geopolitical actors to rival nation-states."

Some might argue that this has already happened and the nexus of world power is now corporate-leaning. The world's biggest tech companies are now richer and more powerful than most countries. According to an article in PC Week in 2021 discussing Apple's dominance: "By taking the current valuation of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and others, then comparing them to the GDP of countries on a map, we can see just how crazy things have become… Valued at $2.2 trillion, the Cupertino company is richer than 96% of the world. In fact, only seven countries currently outrank the maker of the iPhone financially."

For the moment, these trends appear to be unstoppable, given the levels of corporate investment already at stake and the supine posture and dependency of governments on their largesse. The best available response for the moment is simply greater public awareness and a commitment to face the contours of this brave new technocratic world head-on and with clear vision. Given the astonishingly out-of-control power of the Big Tech sector, it's also crucial to realize that simply regulating these systems while allowing them to continue to siphon off the power of traditional governments will not be enough to preserve our quality of life going forward.

Read more of the Common Dreams article here: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/b ... -nations

For the cited Times article: https://time.com/6255952/ai-impact-cha ... t-google/

For the cited PC Weekly article of 2021: https://www.pcmag.com/news/worlds-most ... ountries

From the PC Weekly article:

Microsoft…(has) a …$1.8 trillion valuation…only nine countries are worth more money…

Amazon is valued at …$1.6 trillion….

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is valued at $1.4 trillion, putting it ahead of all but 12 countries.

caltrek’s comment: The valuation of Microsoft at $1.8 is actually lower than other estimates provided in this thread, which put its valuation at over $2 trillion.

[caltrek]

Axios Harris Poll 100: Year of the Tarnished Titans
by Sara Fischer and Margaret Talev

May 23, 2023

Introduction: The article opens with a table listing of 100 companies, their reputational ranking, and an indication of their ranking relative to last year

(Axios) FTX and Tesla, once seen as shining examples of innovation and opportunity, took two of the biggest reputational hits in this year's Axios Harris Poll 100 brand reputation survey.

Why it matters: Amid a crypto collapse and Musk madness, Americans have grown wary and weary of big ideas and powerful moguls who they feel have overpromised and underdelivered.

What we're watching: Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter not only pushed the social media company's own ranking down but shook investors' faith in Tesla by making the public more aware of Musk's manic leadership style.

• Twitter ranked 97th among the 100 brands survey respondents identified as most visible in the country today. Its Reputational Quotient, or RQ®, score — a measure across seven dimensions touching on character, trust and trajectory — was 59.3 out of a possible 100.

• Tesla saw one of the biggest reputation drops of the past year, from 11th in 2022 to 62nd place this year, with a 74.3 RQ (79.5 in 2022).

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2023/05/23/ftx-t ... ings-2021

caltrek’s comment: Lowest ranked is the Trump Organization. Ironic that its leader is ahead in the polls for the Republican party nomination.

[Cyber_Rebel]

Onwards towards Cyberpunk

How a billionaire-backed network of AI advisers took over Washington

A sprawling network spread across Congress, federal agencies and think tanks is pushing policymakers to put AI apocalypse at the top of the agenda — potentially boxing out other worries and benefiting top AI companies with ties to the network.



(Politico)

An organization backed by Silicon Valley billionaires and tied to leading artificial intelligence firms is funding the salaries of more than a dozen AI fellows in key congressional offices, across federal agencies and at influential think tanks.

The fellows funded by Open Philanthropy, which is financed primarily by billionaire Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, are already involved in negotiations that will shape Capitol Hill’s accelerating plans to regulate AI. And they’re closely tied to a powerful influence network that’s pushing Washington to focus on the technology’s long-term risks — a focus critics fear will divert Congress from more immediate rules that would tie the hands of tech firms.

Acting through the little-known Horizon Institute for Public Service, a nonprofit that Open Philanthropy effectively created in 2022, the group is funding the salaries of tech fellows in key Senate offices, according to documents and interviews.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s top three lieutenants on AI legislation — Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) — each have a Horizon fellow working on AI or biosecurity, a closely related issue. The office of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a powerful member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who recently unveiled plans for an AI licensing regime, includes a Horizon AI fellow who worked at OpenAI immediately before coming to Congress, according to his bio on Horizon’s web site.
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One key issue that has already emerged is licensing — the idea, now part of a legislative framework from Blumenthal and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), that the government should require licenses for companies to work on advanced AI. Raji worries that Open Philanthropy-funded experts could help lock in the advantages of existing tech giants by pushing for a licensing regime. She said that would likely cement the importance of a few leading AI companies – including OpenAI and Anthropic, two firms with significant financial and personal links to Moskovitz and Open Philanthropy.

“There will only be a subset of companies positioned to accommodate a licensing regime,” Raji said. “It concentrates existing monopolies and entrenches them even further.”
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“We have [the] AI [industry] inserting its staffers into Congress to potentially write new laws and regulations around this emerging field,” Stretton said. “That is a conflict of interest.”

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Perhaps an unpopular opinion which may not be shared, I'd rather Silicon Valley, over Wall Street or theocratic fundamentalist interest within congress.

[caltrek]

Apple Suffers Setback as It Fights Colossal Tax Penalty in EU Courts
by Cain Burdeau
November 9, 2023

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — Tech giant Apple once again faces paying a $14 billion tax penalty after a legal adviser to the European Union's highest court said on Thursday that a lower court ruling exempting the company from paying taxes in Ireland on worldwide profits was flawed.

The European General Court erred in 2020 when it determined Ireland had not given the iPhone maker illegal tax breaks in violation of the EU's rules governing fair competition, according to a legal opinion by Giovanni Pitruzzella, an advocate general for the European Court of Justice.

His finding comes amid legal fights between Brussels regulators and multinational tech giants that chose to set up European branches in Ireland to take advantage of the country's favorable regulatory and tax regimes.

Ireland has one of the EU's lowest corporate tax rates and 25 of the country's 50 largest companies are U.S.-based multinationals like Apple, paying an estimated 80% of all Irish corporate tax.

Further extract:

Apple and Irish regulators argue the company should only pay taxes based on profits generated within Ireland, not on worldwide profits. In particular, the Cupertino, California-based company maintains that its research and development is conducted in the United States and therefore profits on its intellectual property should not be paid to Irish tax authorities.

Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/apple-s ... courts/

[caltrek]

[caltrek]

Apple, Tesla and Nvidia Were Among 2023’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ Stocks – Here’s What to Expect from Them All in 2024
by Karl Schmedders
December 22, 2023

Introduction:

(The Conversation) In the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven, a group of seven gunfighters protect a village from bandits. Only three survive to ride out of town at the end of the movie. The odds look much better for the seven tech companies recently dubbed the magnificent seven after dominating US stock markets in 2023. But there are problems that could ambush some of these companies in 2024.

Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Tesla and Nvidia have driven a rally in US stocks in 2023. They now make up nearly a third of the S&P 500 measure of the largest listed US companies, which has risen more than 20% since January. These tech stocks had provided shareholders with a whopping 71% return by mid-November while the other 493 names added just 6%.

This impressive performance led Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett to name these companies the magnificent seven earlier this year. Goldman Sachs soon followed, calling their massive outperformance the “defining feature” of the equity market in 2023.

But as dramatic as this performance has been – and although they’re all essentially tech companies – don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re all the same. In fact, the outlook for the magnificent seven next year is mixed, particularly in light of expected changes in their core markets.

Read more here: https://theconversation.com/apple-tesl ... -218675

[weatheriscool]

More money for the rich and f*ck everyone that isn't. The republican party! The party of the elite and power.

[caltrek]

Global Mergers and Acquisitions Hit Lowest Level in a Decade
by Michael Flaherty
December 27, 2023

Introduction:

(Axios) Global merger and acquisition activity in 2023 fell 17% to $2.87 trillion, the lowest level in over a decade, according to London Stock Exchange Group data.

Why it matters: A slow M&A market can strain companies seeking growth or investment.

• The 2023 tally was driven lower by economic worries and tight financing markets.

• The last time global M&A fell below $3 trillion was in 2013, thanks in part to the eurozone crisis.

Inside the numbers: U.S. M&A outperformed the globe, falling 6% to $1.36 trillion. This was aided by a flurry of deals in late December, including a $15 billion deal for U.S. Steel and a $14 billion takeover of schizophrenia drugmaker Karuna Therapeutics.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2023/12/28/year-end-deals-data

[wjfox]

Microsoft poised to overtake Apple as most valuable company

Jan 05, 2024

As Microsoft stock rises and Apple's falls over analysts expectation of slowing iPhone demand, the two firms are once more within $100 billion of each other — the smallest gap in over two years.

Apple and Microsoft have a long history of competing for the title of the world's most valuable company, although originally that was specifically in the technology category. In 2010, Apple dethroned Microsoft when it hit a market capitalization of $222 billion, and then in 2018 Microsoft briefly regained that top position.

Now those sums seem quaintly low, and the two companies have instead been vying for the title of most valuable company globally, in any category. In August 2020, Apple became the first publicly-traded US company to reach a $2 trillion market cap, and Microsoft became the second one in June 2021.

Later in October 2021, Microsoft took over the top spot, and for a time was more valuable than Apple by $100 billion.

While the values of the two firms have continually changed, Microsoft is now worth just $100 billion less than Apple, according to MarketWatch. Microsoft is valued at $2.73 trillion, while Apple — fallen from its recent $3 trillion high — is currently at $2.83 trillion.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/01 ... le-company

[wjfox]

Amazon takeover of iRobot to be blocked by EU

2 days ago

Amazon's takeover of vacuum cleaner maker iRobot is set to be blocked by the European Union's competition watchdog, the BBC understands.

[...]

The online giant moved to buy iRobot, maker of the Roomba cleaner, in August 2022 in a takeover deal set to cost $1.7bn (£1.4bn).

It was looking to expand its footprint in the market for smart home appliances.

But regulators are worried that iRobot's tie-up with Amazon could make it difficult for other vacuum-makers to compete, especially if Amazon were to give the Roomba benefits over rivals on its e-commerce site.

[...]

The EC has the legal deadline of February 14 to make its decision but the commission's 27 top political leaders will need to reach consensus on the rejection before a final decision can be issued.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-68031889