KQED's Forum Click. Scroll. Surrender. Tim Wu Warns Against The Rise of Big Data in 'The Age of Extraction'
Nov 10, 2025
Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia and former tech advisor to the Biden administration, sheds light on the dark side of the internet in his discussion on tech monopolies. He highlights how companies like Amazon and Google extract wealth and data while undermining democracy. Wu questions the government's role and suggests that younger generations are increasingly aware and critical of this extraction. He advocates for collective action and legislative reform, comparing tech platforms to utilities while warning about the political power imbalances they create.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Internet's Shift To An Extractive Economy
- The internet shifted from a creative commons to an extractive economy dominated by powerful platforms.
- Tim Wu argues advanced extraction technologies now concentrate wealth and control human behavior.
Amazon's Marketplace Turned Extractive
- Amazon began as a seller-friendly marketplace but increasingly became extractive.
- Tim Wu cites Amazon Advertising's huge revenue and sponsored links as an example of that shift.
Convenience Fuels Long-Term Monopoly
- Convenience powers platform dominance by changing user habits and lowering churn.
- Wu warns that convenience creates lasting monopolies as users 'never want to leave.'
