Blair, Ellison, Zuckerberg, Trump… and Albo? Big tech owns politics now episode artwork

EPISODE · Oct 2, 2025 · 21 MIN

Blair, Ellison, Zuckerberg, Trump… and Albo? Big tech owns politics now

from Cut Through

Tony Blair wants to give Larry Ellison the full NHS data set, to “power AI”. Donald Trump is making trade and tariff threats on behalf of American tech billionaires. And when Mark Zuckerberg wanted changes made to Australian policies, he just called then treasurer Josh Frydenberg direct. Big tech is now inextricable from politics. How did it happen? Crikey's politics reporter Anton Nilsson joins the podcast to discuss his part in the global investigation uncovering exactly how big tech shapes legislation, litigates against governments, and deploys its influence to avoid regulation.Read more:Tony Blair is a tech evangelist with a lot of power. Insiders are worriedRead the draft of Tony Blair’s plan for Gaza, in full‘Australia’s example has spread’: Inside big tech’s global playbook to stop news media bargaining codesInside the US lobby group banking on the $6.7 trillion future of data centresHere’s 20 questions for Google that remain unansweredRead the full Big Tech’s Invisible Hand seriesSign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletterCrikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony Blair wants to give Larry Ellison the full NHS data set, to “power AI”. Donald Trump is making trade and tariff threats on behalf of American tech billionaires. And when Mark Zuckerberg wanted changes made to Australian policies, he just called then treasurer Josh Frydenberg direct. Big tech is now inextricable from politics. How did it happen? Crikey's politics reporter Anton Nilsson joins the podcast to discuss his part in the global investigation uncovering exactly how big tech shapes legislation, litigates against governments, and deploys its influence to avoid regulation.Read more:Tony Blair is a tech evangelist with a lot of power. Insiders are worriedRead the draft of Tony Blair’s plan for Gaza, in full‘Australia’s example has spread’: Inside big tech’s global playbook to stop news media bargaining codesInside the US lobby group banking on the $6.7 trillion future of data centresHere’s 20 questions for Google that remain unansweredRead the full Big Tech’s Invisible Hand seriesSign up to Crikey’s free newsletter: https://bit.ly/crikey-newsletterCrikey’s independent journalism is supported by readers — 98% of our revenue comes from our subscribers. We’re not accountable to billionaires; we’re accountable to you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Blair, Ellison, Zuckerberg, Trump… and Albo? Big tech owns politics now

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This episode is 21 minutes long.

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This episode was published on October 2, 2025.

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Tony Blair wants to give Larry Ellison the full NHS data set, to “power AI”. Donald Trump is making trade and tariff threats on behalf of American tech billionaires. And when Mark Zuckerberg wanted changes made to Australian policies, he just called...

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