Chapter 4. The powers of digital giants.

Abstract

The article analyses the growing power of GAFAM, BATX and other digital giants, now leaders in infrastructure (cloud, submarine cables, satellites) and drivers of innovation, particularly in artificial intelligence. Despite emerging regulations in the United States and Europe and a crackdown in China, the dominance of this oligopoly remains overwhelming, supported by anti-competitive strategies and control over data. The interdependence between states and internet giants has intensified, with each supporting its national champions for economic and geopolitical reasons. The European Union is focusing on regulation, the United States on industrial protection, and China on political control and global leadership. This power raises many ethical issues: invasion of privacy, manipulation of information, weakening of democracy, etc. In addition, the military and strategic use of digital technology is transforming international power relations. The current techno-economic domination threatens the multilateral balances inherited from the post-war period. Faced with this change, the author calls for a rethinking of democratic counter-powers and for the emergence of the Global South to be acknowledged in order to redefine the rules of the global game.