Biden's Farewell Address Warns of 'Tech-Industrial Complex' and AI Dangers

Biden warns of danger posed by the 'tech industrial complex'

Welcome to a decade where the oligarchs are no longer silent in the shadows US President Joe Biden gave his final address to the nation on Wednesday, and said America was visibly sliding into a technology-heavy oligopoly aided by a flood of online disinformation. In a farewell bid, he cited President Dwight Eisenhower's famous 1961 speech warning of the "military industrial complex," and said today we face an "tech industrial complex." As Biden observed, "Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power." He argued this unchecked disinfo was being pushed by powerful commercial forces, with the truth overridden, to the detriment of everyone and everything else including democracy. You can watch the full speech below. Youtube Video "In my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern," the Democrat said. "And that's a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked." "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America, of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead." Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos are all expected to attend Trump's swearing-in on January 20; Zuck and Bezos contributed to the inauguration's costs, while Musk poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Donald's successful reelection campaign. Editors are disappearing ... The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit Bezos' newspaper, the Washington Post, which adopted the slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" during Trump's first term, is now reportedly shifting to a new mission statement: "Riveting Storytelling for All of America," as Trump prepares to re-enter the White House. Biden went over a few things he wished he had done during his time in power, including a ban on Congressfolk trading in stocks, term limits and ethics rules for Supreme Court justices, and removing presidential immunity. But it was misinformation and a lack of scrutiny that drew the most ire from the soon-to-be-former commander in chief. "The free press is crumbling," he said. "Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power." It should be noted that Meta is still fact checking around the world as usual, just not anymore in America, at least. The social network confirmed this in a letter to the Brazilian government released on Wednesday. Biden also railed against the concentration of wealth by the ultra-rich, likening it to the Gilded Age at the end of the 19th century. The excesses of that period led to Republican President Theodore Roosevelt pushing forward rules for fair business competition and antitrust laws. "More than a century ago, American people stood up to the robber barons back then, and busted the trusts," Biden opined. "They didn't punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy play by the same rules everybody else had." Biden also took time to warn about the dangers of AI, while praising its possibilities. The day before his speech, Biden signed an executive order instructing the US Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to identify federal lands suitable for hosting new AI datacenters, just one month after the DoE warned [PDF] that bit barns would take up 6.7 percent to 12 percent of US energy consumption by 2028 "In the age of AI it's more important than ever that the people must govern," he said. "And as the land of liberty, America, not China, must lead the world in the development of AI." He closed off his final address with an impassioned plea for Americans to protect their democracy and the system of checks and balances that has stood the nation well over the past 250 years. "After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea of where this nation stands. A nation where the strength of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure," he said. "Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America, you love it, too." ®

Biden warns US faces oligarchy as Trump looms over legacy

STORY: President Joe Biden capped his half-century political career on Wednesday with a final Oval Office speech. In it, he warned of a nascent American oligarchy. "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead." He did not mention names, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has not only amassed vast wealth but also become a powerful adviser to Donald Trump, who will take over as president from Biden on Monday. Biden then invoked the 1961 farewell address of President Dwight Eisenhower, who had warned of the dangers of a 'military-industrial complex' gaining power in the country. "Six decades later, I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well." "The free press is crumbling. Pillars are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking." Biden's comments came after social media company Meta Platforms recently scrapped its U.S. fact-checking program and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity. Critics say the move amounted to bowing to criticism from conservatives like Trump. Biden also warned about the dangerous of artificial intelligence and the need to ensure controls on what he called, quote, "the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time." His foreboding speech comes as his Democratic Party has little leverage in national politics. Meanwhile Trump has nominated a slate of cabinet members who have pledged to upend traditional American alliances and governing norms.

Bitter Biden warns 'oligarchy taking shape in America' in barely...

WASHINGTON -- Outgoing President Biden used a resentful farewell address Wednesday night to warn against what he called a "tech-industrial complex" -- claiming that "an oligarchy is taking shape in America" in a clear swipe at Elon Musk and other business titans scrambling to court President-elect Donald Trump. Biden, 82, sniped at some of the same tech moguls, such as Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who were seen as helping the Democrat defeat Trump in 2020 through censorship of unfavorable coverage. "In my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And that's a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked," Biden said. "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America, of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead." Biden did not name names, but made the targets of his wrath clear through pointed comments elsewhere in his remarks. "In his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. He warned us then about, 'the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power,'" Biden said. "Six decades later, I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well," the president went on. "Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power." The "giving up on fact-checking" line was a clear shot at Zuckerberg, who recently announced that his landmark social network was transitioning away from fact-checks by third parties to an X-style "community notes" system in a perceived overture to Trump. Biden railed against "misinformation" despite regularly telling false or unverifiable stories of his own -- including twice in the past week providing what local Los Angeles utilities say was a false explanation for dry water hydrants in an attempt to deflect blame from local Democratic officials. Meta's recently abandoned system allowed junior writers at partnering organizations to issue opinionated "fact checks" that downgraded political speech on Facebook and Instagram based on disputed analysis, sometimes censoring true information that reflected poorly on Biden -- such as criticism of his contribution to the mass incarceration of black men through harsh crime laws in the 1980s and '90s. The new system allows for community voting on fact-checks that are appended to disputed posts -- a mechanism pioneered by Musk's X platform, formerly known as Twitter. The South Africa-born billionaire purchased X in October 2022 in protest of prior acts of censorship, including Twitter and Facebook's pre-2020 election banning of The Post's reporting on accurate information from first son Hunter Biden's laptop that implicated his father in Chinese and Ukrainian business relationships. Zuckerberg, the world's third-richest man, recently met with Trump and has courted him aggressively ahead of Monday's inauguration -- while Bezos, the second-richest man, deep-sixed a Washington Post editorial endorsing Biden's hand-picked successor. Musk, the world's richest person, meanwhile, actively supported Trump's campaign and owns a number of high-tech companies, including electric carmaker Tesla and the aerospace contractor SpaceX. Biden, who will leave office as one of the least-popular presidents in modern history, said America must enact tax policies meant to make the rich "begin to pay their fair share" and that there should be new policies against the "dark money ... behind too many campaigns contributions" -- even though much of it has benefited his own party. The 46th president also warned about artificial intelligence, saying "nothing offers more profound possibilities and risk for our economy and our security, our society, and very often, for humanity." "Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my call to end cancer as we know it," Biden said, noting one of his unfulfilled policy pledges. "But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind." Biden opened his speech touting the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas that was announced earlier in the day -- while again failing to offer any credit to Trump, whose pressure on both sides is widely regarded as facilitating the breakthrough. And in a clear barb at his successor, Biden said: "We need to amend the Constitution make clear that no president is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office." Despite the sour tone, the president tried to cast himself as magnanimous ahead of his departure from office Monday "I wish the incoming administration success," he said, "because I want America to succeed."

'An Oligarchy is Taking Shape,' Biden Warns in His Farewell Address

'The seeds are planted, and they'll grow and bloom for decades to come,' the outgoing president said in his farewell address to the nation on Wednesday night. As President Biden prepares to leave Washington for the final time in just four days, he is warning of a concentration of power in Silicon Valley and among America's largest social media platforms, and of the importance of the artificial intelligence race with Communist China. Mr. Biden, who campaigned in 2020 on returning government to traditional norms after the disruptive tenure of President Trump, and instead paved the way for Trump's return, is leaving office with a dismal approval rating. But Wednesday evening, in his farewell address from the Oval Office, the president took the opportunity to issue a warning about the enormous power of the American technology industry. "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," Mr. Biden said. "In his farewell address, President Eisenhower spoke of the dangers of the military industrial complex. He warned us then about 'the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power.' Six decades later, I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that can pose dangers for our country as well," he said. The president's comments were a thinly veiled shot at Elon Musk, the technology entrepreneur and world's richest man who has forged a close partnership with Trump. Mr. Musk, who gave $250 million to the Trump campaign, is enjoying enormous influence both with the president-elect and via the X social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which he owns. Other tech leaders have moved to align themselves with Trump and the MAGA movement. Facebook has drastically scaled back human content moderation, which had been criticized by the right as anti-conservative censorship, and has ended its "diversity, equity and inclusion" policies and removed tampons from the men's bathrooms at its facilities. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg recently denounced Mr. Biden on Joe Rogan's podcast. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos blocked the Washington Post, which he owns, from publishing an endorsement it had prepared of Vice President Harris. Messrs. Bezos and Zuckerberg will attend the inauguration, along with Mr. Musk, the CEO of Microsoft, and other technology giants. In his address, Mr. Biden issued an even starker warning about the A.I. arms race with other nations, and the threat the technology could pose if it is not developed responsibly. "Unless safeguards are in place, A.I. can spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation," the president said. "In the age of A.I., it's more important than ever that the people must govern, and as the land of liberty, America -- not China -- must lead the world in the development of A.I." In interviews with the Sun before the address on Wednesday, some Democratic lawmakers recognized the political failings of the Biden White House, while asserting that the president would be remembered fondly in due time. The first member of Congress to endorse Mr. Biden in 2019, Congressman Stephen Lynch, likened the outgoing president to another one-term commander-in-chief. "Just like with Carter ... look at the price of everything, and the situation with the hostages," Mr. Lynch said in an interview at the Capitol on Wednesday. "I just feel for Joe because it wasn't the way he wanted to go out, but he should be proud of himself." "He did his best," Mr. Lynch said in a ringing endorsement. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, has known Mr. Biden and his wife, Jill, for decades. Her late husband, Congressman John Dingell, represented central Michigan in the House from 1955 to 2015, when Ms. Dingell took his seat. "It's been one of the worst years of my life," Ms. Dingell explained, referring to Mr. Biden's departure, the Democrats' loss, and the Israel-Hamas war. "Some of the legislation that we passed will last for years to come, and I suspect, like other presidents, people will appreciate what he's done and what he accomplished," she said. Senator Kaine said the same thing, telling the Sun that "I think he's going to be remembered for some really solid accomplishments, particularly restarting American manufacturing, jump-starting American infrastructure, [and] the expansion of NATO." Senator Durbin, who has chaired the Judiciary Committee for the last four years, has known the president since he was first elected to Congress in the 1980s. When asked by the Sun how Mr. Biden would be remembered years from now, Mr. Durbin joked: "That's a thumb-sucker of a question," though after a pause, highlighted the historic number of judges Mr. Biden had appointed to the bench. Even Senator Capito, a member of GOP leadership who worked with Mr. Biden on a number of bipartisan pieces of legislation, says the jury may be out on Mr. Biden for a little while, though she cautioned that he has certain failures he will never live down. "You know, I remember George W. Bush said one time, the immediacy of an 'after' president, you can't really judge, but I will say the border is pretty much gonna define him," she said in a conversation with the Sun.