Issue How to hold technology firms accountable and fit them into global governance is unsettled

Summary

This issue concerns the unsettled question of how to govern large technology firms that now act on the world stage. The report contrasts them with companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, long embedded in military-industrial complexes largely controlled by governments. Big tech firms depend less on government contracts and may not put state concerns such as security, sustainability and economic resilience first. Their motives can also be difficult to untangle, especially given the potentially erratic influence of their very wealthy chief executives. As a result, questions are increasingly raised about how they can be held accountable and integrated into global governance structures. The report records these questions without offering a settled answer.