Big Tech’s Midlife Crisis with Will Oremus

The Washington Post tech industry analyst discusses how America’s major tech companies are grappling with government regulation and a public that has fallen out of love. 

Tech companies aren’t the shiny new players in the world economy anymore; they are core pillars of that economy and primary drivers of our culture. 

They are also feeling a little old, says Washington Post tech industry analyst Will Oremus, and are now beset by lawmakers who would like to regulate them and users who have fallen out of love with them. 

For this episode of the “Crosscut Talks” podcast, Oremus and Lizzy O'Leary, host of Slate's “What Next: TBD,” dive into the tech industry's midlife crisis and discuss how companies like Microsoft, Google and Facebook are cutting back by laying off workers in an effort to slim down and stay relevant.

The two revisit what made these tech giants powerful, the tactics they used to get there and how backlash started nearly 10 years ago. And they discuss what the future could hold as these companies attempt to grow and remain dominant.

This conversation took place May 3, 2023. 

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Credits

Host: Paris Jackson

Producer: Seth Halleran

Event producers: Jake Newman, Anne O'Dowd

Engineers: Resti Bagcal, Viktoria Ralph

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