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Technology & democracy

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Elon Musk is inescapable in tech.

I’ve spent time with tech oligarchs – you have no idea just how weird they are

Like the rocket ships Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are shovelling money into, the tech being prioritised by Silicon Valley’s billionaires isn’t designed to save us. It’s meant to save them.

  • Cory Alpert

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Welcome to the era of the affordable cruise missile

Welcome to the era of the ‘affordable’ cruise missile

Long-range cruise missiles were once expensive and in the hands of the few. Now they are being reinvented at a fraction of the cost, disrupting defence in the process.

  • Chris Zappone
Jack Ma

Jack is back: Why China has brought its billionaires out of the shadows

After four years of a brutal crackdown that has cost them billions, Jack Ma and the rest of China’s best and brightest have been welcomed back into the fold by Xi Jinping. The message is clear.

  • Stephen Bartholomeusz
Labor says the NBN is still a superior product and more cost-effective than Starlink for a vast majority of Australians.

‘No way’: Labor says NBN will beat Elon Musk’s Starlink on broadband

Elon Musk’s Starlink network is winning Australian customers, but Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says NBN will remain cheaper and get faster.

  • David Crowe
An Apple conference about Siri in California in 2018.

Apple settles eavesdropping class action for $153 million

A US class action had alleged the tech giant was using virtual assistant Siri’s microphone to record conversations without users’ knowledge.

  • Michael Liedtke
Multinational tech firms are being targeted by a swathe of new laws.

Big Tech didn’t like Biden. Trump won’t be any better for Google & Co

The Biden administration has used antitrust legislation to target the technology giants, even seeking to break up Google. Trump’s nominees to key posts overseeing the tech sector won’t be much friendlier.

  • Stephen Bartholomeusz
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Anthony Pratt (centre) at this year’s Met Gala.

Colonel Anthony Pratt? How the billionaire box king earned his stripes

What intrigued us most about the cardboard baron’s LinkedIn announcement that he was moving to the US was the name on his social media account.

  • Sherryn Groch and Kishor Napier-Raman
Let that sink in, says Elon Musk.

The alarm over Elon Musk and national security has yet to sink in

The prospect of Musk doing the bidding of Vladimir Putin – or any authoritarian leader – would be malign influence at a whole other level.

  • Chris Zappone
Telegram has been used to motivate some Trump supporters “fight like hell”. 

On Telegram, a violent preview of what may unfold during and after the US election

Far-right groups like the Proud Boys are revving people up to fight should Trump lose, with some promising “to get you trained and ready for election day”.

  • Paul Mozur, Adam Satariano, Aaron Krolik and Steven Lee Myers
Malcolm Gladwell is back with a <i>Tipping Point </i>sequel that introduces a major new concept - the overstory.

He coined the term ‘tipping point’ – then COVID superspreaders made him reconsider

As the pace of technological change accelerates, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell predicts ever more frequent disruption.

  • Greg Callaghan

Original URL: https://www.watoday.com.au/topic/technology---democracy-1lyc