Critical Takes on Corporate Power

Massive PR from this firm, largely unchallenged by the media.

criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof...

On the flipside of this are the places where these companies aren't paying much tax.

e.g. Eli Lilly

criticaltakes.org/tax-and-prof...

Tech firms and AI farming tools ‘playing with the food system’, warns thinktank Google, Microsoft and Amazon among companies using algorithms and AI to influence what crops are grown and how, say critics

💻 The digital ag market is set to hit $84bn by 2034. But who benefits?

@theguardian.com covers our #HeadInTheCloud report, warning that #BigTech's AI farming tools are consolidating control over seeds & inputs.

Who decides what we grow: farmers or algorithms?

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Big Tech's lobbyists attack EU digital rules, and how corporate power shapes the way we talk about human rights.

The new Critical Takes newsletter is out!

criticaltakes.org/newsletters/

Huge sums of money, massive hype, opaque back-to-back deals and now accounting gaps, according to this.

Sounds like the market crash gang's all here!

Oh no it isn't.

This week we look at Yoshua Bengio who cuts through the AI hype isn’t “innovation” - it’s concentrated power, investor pressure, and corner‑cutting on public safety. If we want real progress, we need to confront #monopoly power head‑on.

https://substack.pulse.ly/kdwzz7jafd

#AI #BigTech

criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

Meta is trying to use Ireland as its trojan horse within the EU, from the sounds of it.

(For more on Meta's dubious lobbying tactics in Brussels, see link in the post below)

A really useful update here on negotiations for a UN tax convention.

Sounds as if delegates are getting into the fundamentals of how international corporate taxation works, and for whom.

Also sounds as if big business lobbyists are resorting to ChatGPT to crank out dodgy spin reports ...

New on Critical Takes:

How corporate power tries to shape the way we talk about business and human rights.

Reflections from researcher and advocate Katherine McDonnell.

Read here:

criticaltakes.org/human-rights...

WRT @business-humanrights.org @escrnet.bsky.social @asso-sherpa.bsky.social

It would be hard to organise a community protest against e.g. Microsoft Office.

Against a giant black box ringed with wire and security cameras and owned by very rich men who come across like Bond villains, somewhat less hard.

Another thing about AI, politically speaking, is that for a digital technology it has very big and tangible manifestations in the form of data centres which a) are pretty visible if you live near one and b) look sinister.

There needs to be a grown-up conversation across society about what AI can and cannot do, and how to manage the consequences, but it's hard for that to happen until the AI over-investment bubble bursts and all the gassy hype dissipates.

We can move beyond the capitalist model and save the climate – here are the first three steps | Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis Capitalism cares about our species’ prospects as much as a wolf cares about a lamb’s. But democratise our economy and a better world is within our grasp, say Jason Hickel and Yanis Varoufakis

Interesting take here on moving beyond capitalism.

But I think democratising the corporation would mean more than just employee ownership and votes.

It's also necessary to redefine the purposes of the company in law and widen its ownership still further.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Starting to think this deregulation agenda isn't really about protecting European interests ...

More detailed, highly informed analysis of the industry push for deregulation in the European Union.

It's clear that this wave of corporate lobbying has nothing to do with being fit for the future.

It's just giant incumbents trying to bolster their profit margins by offloading harms onto people.

How Big Tech lobbyists are trying to bend the EU's laws out of shape.

An up-close view of corporate lobbying tactics in Brussels.

Listen here:

criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

And we can just wonder will pay for the real life costs for society from the scandalous level of privileged access for dirty industries to the Commission. Watch our new video that explains: corporateeurope.org/en/2026/02/n...

With so much attention on the ill-doing of Big Tech, here's a first-hand account of how they try to get their way in Europe:

criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

A good companion piece is this interview from last year about Davos, Musk's Nazi fetish and all that:

criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

US tech giants pressuring EU to keep us addicted to social media "They can leverage Trump's America First policies, framing EU digital laws as foreign extortion, censorship or discrimination."

US Big Tech companies, including Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap, have mounted a fierce campaign to block or water down measures to fight against specially-designed addictive algorithms for social media platforms, according to the report of @corporateeurope.org
www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1952...

New!

How Big Tech's lobbyists are working in Brussels to undermine European regulations.

An in-depth account from Bram Vranken of @corporateeurope.org

Recommended listening for anyone in civil society whose work concerns the EU.

Listen here:

criticaltakes.org/the-corporat...

Corruption in general can take the form of a long-term relationship in which the giving and receiving may happen at different times and the parties may not be entirely certain of exactly what will end up being given in exchange for what.

What about Case 6 here?

A person in office performs a function or an activity improperly "in anticipation" of requesting a financial or other advantage.

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/2...

More about the problem here (from 12:05)

criticaltakes.org/society-and-...

Good explainer of "digital farming" here.

It looks like the usual promise that technology will make everything more efficient, masking the usual power grab by a handful of giant corporations.

Yes, but GSK and AstraZeneca will be happy and that's what counts.

From the "what" to the "how" of curbing corporate power.

Three more areas for change which might attract worldwide support from civil society.

And some other interesting stuff!

Read here:

criticaltakes.org/newsletters/...

The film people offered me an advance showing. Having watched it, I'm happy to let people know about it.

The last half-hour makes the case for shrinking the dominance of farming and food by giant companies.

Interviewees include @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social who featured on Critical Takes recently.

YouTube video by International Film Festival Rotterdam Hungry - Trailer | IFFR 2026

Giving a plug to this eerie and compelling new film about the threat posed to food supply by corporate power and industrial farming.

It uses a clever framing device, starkly beautiful images and snatches of interviews with experts to gradually build its case.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hehJ...