Platform Capitalism in the Age of Trump 2.0
Dear Reader,
In a month with a remarkable number of big stories, one that loomed particularly large in the tech space was, of course, the emergence of DeepSeek. Stunning observers across the world, the new Large Language Model (LLM) developed by a Chinese hedge fund performed roughly on par with its ChatGPT equivalent. Moreover, it was claimed to have been built on a fraction of the budget, and despite the plethora of trade sanctions and embargoes that have been leveled against the country. Not surprisingly, this news wreaked havoc in the stock markets, inducing major losses worth a staggering $1 trillion from western AI companies, chiefly Nvidia.
Ever since the initial shock, these markets have somewhat recovered, and it has been shown that the initial figures of DeepSeek’s training are misleading and that the costs of AI and the need for large-scale compute have not yet been overcome. Still, it remains the case that DeepSeek has subverted Silicon Valley’s own pretensions to AI supremacy, and has made genuine creative breakthroughs in the training process. Perhaps most significantly, the decision to release the model as open-source has thrown a wrench in the closed ecosystem business models that the likes of OpenAI were looking to capitalize upon.
Ominously, however, the heating up of the AI arms race seems to be veering more and more to the literal production of arms. This became painfully apparent this month as Google officially reneged on its pledge to not pursue AI development for the purposes of weapons, surveillance, and other harmful applications. As reports on the way such AI tools have been deployed in Gaza demonstrate, the possibilities are truly horrifying.
In related news, the latest international AI summit was held in Paris this month, co-hosted by France and India. The event itself was characterized by much empty bluster but was notable in laying bare the growing divide between America and its own allies on AI regulation. Not only did the US refuse to endorse the joint communique that the summit produced, but Vice President JD Vance was forthright in his address, pronouncing that decisions about the technology were now going to be evaluated based on America’s strategic interests, and not any normative principles.
Indeed, such a posture has been made across a number of fronts in recent weeks. For instance, the US also announced that it would be withdrawing, not only from negotiations on the UN tax convention - which it was always against - but also the competing OECD global tax deal that had been championed by its own previous administration. While it is heartening that many of their strategic partners refused to follow their lead and resolved to continue with these processes, it is clear that a more aggressively hostile and unilateral US is going to be a new obstacle for global multilateralism. It has already begun making tariff threats against nations like France, Australia, and Canada which have adopted tax levies on digital services, and it remains to be seen how far such economic bullying will extend.
Of course, the developing world is likely to figure prominently amongst those adversely impacted by this turn of events. In fact, the freeze on international aid from America has already disrupted important humanitarian work and healthcare provision in a number of crisis zones. That said, this rupture also provides an opportunity to reframe the conversations of international cooperation without the distorting presence of the hegemon. If a genuine reckoning of trade justice is to be carried out, it should also address the drains on poorer nations induced through various modalities of unequal exchange. In fact, according to the most recent estimates, these comprise flows of nearly $10 trillion a year from the global south to the global north, a figure almost thirty times the amount of aid that flows the other way. In much the same way, analysts have long critiqued the many ways in which the US-backed digital trade agenda has been systematically damaging to the majority world.
With the Fourth International Conference for Financing on Development scheduled for later this year, countries apart from the US have a chance to rise to the occasion and enact new solidarities for a robust multilateral order. Any serious attempt to address the difficulties of the digital/AI transition or the dire state of the climate emergency must come to terms with the vast financial investments that need to be made in the majority world to contend with these properly global challenges. A truly just order for trade, finance, and development is ultimately in the interest of everyone. Yet, it will take a great deal of political courage for such a better sense to prevail.
Coming back to our issue at hand, this month on DataSyn we bring you a set of three features to shed some light on the madness of the Trump 2.0 age, and what it means in the struggle for digital justice. Our first piece tracks the AI space, analyzing the recent summit for clues as to what the future may hold for this now hyper-politicized industry. Our second piece takes up the standpoint of the global south, looking to survey the repercussions of these new international dynamics for its own digital ambitions. Finally, our third feature zeros in on the digital transformation of our food systems, and the thorny geo-political dimension of this disruptive process.
The DataSyn Team
THE POLICY TABLE
The Golden Age of AI: Power, Politics, and Trade
Burcu Kilic
Using the recent AI Summit in Paris as a launching point, Burcu Kilic critically reflects on the emerging contours of a reckless new phase in global tech regulation. As the Trump administration bares its fangs to friends and foes alike, its weaponized trade policy and aggressive laissez-faire agenda is forcing the world into an AI arms-race to the bottom.
Read on.
THE NEW DIVERGENCE
Trumpism and Techno-Politics at the Periphery
Amay Korjan
It is now clear that Trump's return to office represents a fundamental shift in the international order, and that the technology sector has been singled out as a key site for America to re-assert its dominance. Yet, what do these dynamics portend for the nascent digital ecosystems of the global south? Amay Korjan attempts to map the fault lines of this new terrain.
Read on.
THE BIG EXCESS
Fourth Agricultural Revolution: Who Bears the Costs, Who Gains the Benefits?
Pat Mooney
As our food systems grow increasingly dependent upon digital networks and platforms, Pat Mooney foregrounds the many hazards of this process. In doing so, he poses incisive questions about what this agricultural revolution may result in, particularly in a world where digital networks and commodity supply chains are increasingly caught up in the web of geopolitics.
Read on.
The Sins & Synergies Lounge
Need a comprehensive, analytically-nuanced crash-course on the geo-political mess we find ourselves in? Look no further than our friends at TNI, whose 2025 State of Power report deftly engages the ‘geopolitics of capitalism’, featuring the likes of Adam Tooze, Walden Bello, Tica Font, and many more.
With the convergence of Big Tech in their support for Trump, much attention has been paid to how he is looking to guard their interests abroad. Yet what about the ways in which these tech behemoths are infiltrating the American state at home? Have a look at Cedric Durand’s insightful take on the ‘algorithmized’ bureaucracy being championed by Musk and others.
With Deep-Seek’s dramatic entry into the fray, there has been widespread excitement and panic around the AI industry, depending on who you ask. Yet, looking past the hype and doomsaying, check out this report from the FT that provides a sober lens to understanding what may change going forward.
Taking a broader look at Silicon Valley lobbying and its influence in Washington, tune in to this episode of the Undiplomatic Podcast. The hosts are joined by Max Read to unpack the historical development of this cozy relationship, and what its current extreme iteration means for the future of governance and industry in the US.
With so much happening at once, there are also important developments that seem to be taking place in relative obscurity. One that we shouldn’t stop tracking is the revitalization of the crypto industry under the patronage of the new American administration. Get up to speed with Antulio Rosales and Ty Tarnowski’s long read on the LSE blog.
Post-script
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