Paul Atreides, the central character of Dune, is perhaps one of the best analogies for today’s Big Tech honchos.
Paul sees the holy war coming.
He sees the millions who will die.
And still, he walks into it.
Because it’s going to happen anyway. Better that he leads it than someone ‘worse’ aka; if we don’t build it, someone ‘worse’ (read country) will.
I read this comparison in the September ‘26 issue of Caravan, where author and journalist Karen Hao makes the connection. And honestly, I haven’t been able to unsee it since.
And then this week happened.
My feeds have been full of speculation and drama around what a prominent chip-company CEO allegedly did that is dramatised with cringe-worthy AI videos. The irony writes itself 🤦♀️ But the repercussions of one man’s personal integrity under scrutiny is real. That’s worrisome.
And yesterday’s Outlook outage is another cause of worry, as it shows how much of our everyday functioning depends (read hostage) on just a handful of tech platforms.
Anyone who understands basic economics knows that monopolies and concentrated power are dangerous to the social fabric. And every time we question this concentration, we’re offered the familiar counterargument – economies of scale.
And yes, economies of scale are real. But it should not automatically justify the concentration of power. Autonomy, sovereignty and freedom to choose should be the guiding principles.
Even as smaller players build viable alternatives, the apocalypse narrative gets reinvented and conspiracy theories are fed in PR while backdoor lobbying takes place.
And so, from every few decades that became years to now months – we have a new tech CEO who becomes the self prophesying messiah all over again. A new Paul Attredies.
Hence the danger isn’t in the technological advancements. It’s in the myths that are being invented along with them that justify on who should be building them and more importantly on who should not be building it.
We don’t need heroes in technology or for that matter in any governance at what ever scale.
We need more accountability.
More conversations .
More competition.
And surely more alternatives.
