June 7, 2025 | View in Browser

The once close alliance between U.S. President Donald Trump and the tech mogul Elon Musk descended into a public brawl this week as the two men traded attacks from their respective social media accounts. At one point, Trump threatened to terminate U.S. government contracts with Musk’s companies, worth billions of dollars, and Musk threatened to decommission the SpaceX craft the U.S. government depends on to send astronauts into space.

Musk’s role in the Trump administration has been just one example of a broader fusion of tech power and state power, Ian Bremmer noted in a recent essay. “Where the state once directed technology firms to serve the public interest, policy is increasingly subordinated to the private objectives of technologists,” Bremmer argued. “Even if Big Tech’s grip on Washington doesn’t last, the damage will.”

The Technopolar Paradox

The Frightening Fusion of Tech Power and State Power

By Ian Bremmer

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