NextGen Competition
@nextgencompetition.bsky.social
Working to create a fair and competitive technology ecosystem that empowers consumers, workers, and small businesses. https://nextgencomp.tech/
The latest Top Hat & Thimble is here. 📰 This month: @sumitecon.bsky.social on app store distribution monopolies, Candeub Candon't, the rise of Little Tech, and more! Read it here: newsletter.nextgencomp.tech/p/top-hat-an...
Top Hat & Thimble - July 2026
Welcome to NextGen Competition’s monthly recap, delivering insider insights on antitrust battles, industry shakeups, AI trends, and more.
newsletter.nextgencomp.tech
Big Tech unleashed the AI boom first and started hiring economists to explain the fallout later. No number of economists can turn “move fast and break the labor market” into a real accountability plan. 😳 www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Why tech companies are poaching top economists
Google and others say their economic research sheds light on crucial questions, but critics argue corporate research doesn't serve the public interest.
washingtonpost.com
Love this conversation between @linamkhan.bsky.social and @pkrugman.bsky.social on AI, Big Tech, and antitrust law. ⚖️ paulkrugman.substack.com/p/lina-khan-...
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Top Hat & Thimble — the newsletter tracking the fight over Big Tech
Independent analysis on antitrust enforcement, platform power, and the policy battles shaping a fairer technology ecosystem. Subscribe to Top Hat & Thimble.
nextgencomp.tech
Call them out, @publiccitizen.bsky.social. 💯 Big Tech keeps telling us to trust them on AI while making it painfully clear they don’t know how to control what they’ve built.
Public Citizen@publiccitizen.bsky.social · last wk.Big Tech spent years predicting AI would transform the world. That it would replace jobs. Outperform artists. Pose risks to the public. Now, they’re running massive PR campaigns to convince everyone it’s good. The public isn’t buying it.
Who could have predicted that sharing personal health information with, and seeking medical advice from, a chatbot that has neither a medical degree nor a human conscience could end poorly? 🤦🏻♂️ www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/w...
ChatGPT Led to a Man’s Near-Fatal Health Crisis, Lawsuit Claims
nytimes.com
Some OpenAI employees are reportedly backing a Super PAC to push for stronger AI guardrails and take on OpenAI President Greg Brockman. When the people inside the company start organizing for accountability, maybe everyone else should pay attention. 😵💫
WIRED@wired.com · 2w agoOpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a political effort opposing Leading the Future, a group backed by the company’s president, Greg Brockman.
Americans’ confidence in Big Tech has hit a record low in Gallup’s tracking. 📉 Only 20% say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in tech giants. Maybe years of monopoly power, privacy abuses, AI chaos, and political coziness are catching up. 🤷♂️
The Washington Times@washtimes.bsky.social · 3w agoAmericans' trust in large technology companies has sunk to its lowest level since Gallup began tracking the measure, according to a... trib.al/1cAFVMG
While technological sovereignty for Europe seems impossible, partial autonomy is the new goal, and it’s already underway. ⬇️ www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/w...
The Quest for ‘Technological Sovereignty’ in Europe (and Why It’s So Hard)
France and Germany want to quit relying on America and China for key technology like artificial intelligence, but they’re having to choose where to do it.
nytimes.com
Big Tech “alliances” are always arrangements of convenience. Right up until they stop being convenient. 🤷🏻♂️
The Verge@theverge.com · 3w agoSam Altman didn’t need another lawsuit www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Big Tech is running into data center resistance across the country, so now some tech giants are looking to tribal lands for their next build. They should not expect a free pass. Communities deserve transparency, accountability, and a real say. 💪🏼 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...
We need guardrails for Big Tech from this administration, not giveaways. Enforce antitrust. ⚖️ Protect consumers. 🙋🏻♂️ Fight monopolies. 🥊 Join us in the fight: nextgencomp.tech
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Working to create a fair and competitive technology ecosystem that empowers consumers, workers, and small businesses.
nextgencomp.tech
As Gov Kathy Hochul imposes a data center moratorium in NY @nextgencompetition.bsky.social presents its first AI report card ⬇️
The latest Top Hat & Thimble is here. 📰 This month: @sumitecon.bsky.social on Big Tech and AI, Alex Bores’ anti-Big Tech run in New York, the Supreme Court’s blow to independent agencies, and more. Read it here: newsletter.nextgencomp.tech/p/top-hat-an...
Top Hat & Thimble - June 2026
Welcome to NextGen Competition’s monthly recap, delivering insider insights on antitrust battles, industry shakeups, AI trends, and more.
newsletter.nextgencomp.tech
Your electricity bill and 401(k) should not be collateral damage for Big Tech’s AI bubble. 🙅♂️ In @techpolicypress.bsky.social, @sumitecon.bsky.social explains how cloud-for-equity deals, crossholdings, and risky AI bets are distorting markets, and why antitrust enforcement can help let the air out.
Tech Policy Press@techpolicypress.bsky.social · 4w agoSumit Sharma argues antitrust enforcement against Big Tech–AI ownership crossholdings could prevent a popping AI bubble from cascading across the economy, helping to restore the competitive incentives that crossholdings have dampened.
Our next edition of Top Hat & Thimble will arrive soon! Are you subscribed? 👀 Sign up today to receive our monthly newsletter in your inbox: nextgencomp.tech/subscribe
Top Hat & Thimble — the newsletter tracking the fight over Big Tech
Independent analysis on antitrust enforcement, platform power, and the policy battles shaping a fairer technology ecosystem. Subscribe to Top Hat & Thimble.
nextgencomp.tech
It appears that not only do Americans see Big Tech as more of a threat than Big Government, but they also don’t believe a word that comes out of tech CEOs’ mouths: like paying for data centers, for example. Full survey results from @consumerreports.org: advocacy.consumerreports.org/press_releas...
Consumer Reports: New Survey finds Americans are Skeptical of Big Tech’s Pledge to Pay for All AI Data Center Energy Costs - CR Advocacy
Washington, DC – A Consumer Reports nationally representative survey of 2,082 US adults in May 2026 found that a large majority of Americans are skeptical…
advocacy.consumerreports.org
Violence is never the answer. But treating communities worried about data centers, AI, and Big Tech’s power as security threats is wrong. Want to reduce anti-tech extremism? Strengthen guardrails, boost transparency, and demand accountability. 💯 www.techpolicy.press/to-mitigate-...
Big Tech’s AI money machine is already trying to shape the rules before they’re written. 💰 Kudos to @demandprogress.bsky.social for tracking which politicians are being bankrolled by Leading the Future, the Super PAC backed by AI executives fighting guardrails. ⬇️
Demand Progress@demandprogress.bsky.social · last mo.Leading the Future, the Super PAC from the people who brought you Palantir and OpenAI, are spending millions on elections to kill AI safeguards. Go to aimoneywatch.org to see who they're bankrolling and who they're trying to stop.
Google wants to overturn search remedies. The DOJ and 38 states want them strengthened. As Executive Director @sumitecon.bsky.social notes, no rival can outbid Google for default placement. Without stronger remedies, Google’s monopoly machine keeps running. ⚖️ www.techtimes.com/articles/318...
Google Antitrust Appeal Filed: DC Circuit Can Strengthen Data Rules Even Without Chrome Sale
Google antitrust appeal reached the DC Circuit after Google filed its opening brief on May 22, 2026, challenging both the monopoly ruling and data-sharing mandates already in effect. The DOJ and 38 st...
techtimes.com
Love this from @nytimes.com: what happens when power lines take over your backyard to feed Big Tech’s insatiable appetite for AI? 🤦🏻♂️ Watch the video here: www.nytimes.com/video/techno...
Video: When Data Centers Come for Your Backyard
nytimes.com
ICYMI: We dropped the latest edition of Top Hat and Thimble last week! 📰 Get @sumitecon.bsky.social's take on the AI bubble, hear all the Microsoft/OpenAI/Musk drama, learn the latest on Google and search remedies, and more! Read it here: newsletter.nextgencomp.tech/p/top-hat-an...
Top Hat & Thimble - May 2026
Welcome to NextGen Competition’s monthly recap, delivering insider insights on antitrust battles, Big Tech shakeups, AI trends, and more.
newsletter.nextgencomp.tech
Happy Prime Day! Friendly reminder that the FTC previously sued Amazon for acting as a monopoly that “inflates prices, degrades quality, and stifles innovation for consumers and businesses.” Maybe give a small business your money today instead. 🤷🏻♂️
Want to make sure next month’s Top Hat & Thimble lands in your inbox? 👀 Each month, we break down the biggest Big Tech battles, highlight the stories that matter, and feature Q&As with officials working to hold corporate power accountable. Subscribe today: nextgencomp.tech/subscribe
Top Hat & Thimble — the newsletter tracking the fight over Big Tech
Independent analysis on antitrust enforcement, platform power, and the policy battles shaping a fairer technology ecosystem. Subscribe to Top Hat & Thimble.
nextgencomp.tech
"In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would soon host a meeting with the top “12 or 15 executives” in the A.I. industry to discuss the idea of companies’ “giving back something to the public.” He added, “If we do that, the public will become very rich.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/t...
We don't love saying we told you so... but we told you so. Unsurprisingly to anyone who’s been following this saga, Microsoft's takeover of Activision has been a complete disaster. 🤦🏻♂️ www.gamesindustry.biz/report-micro...
Report: Microsoft weighing up spinning off Xbox
Company management has reportedly approved a plan by new CEO Asha Sharma to increase spending on Halo, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls to speed up development, to
gamesindustry.biz
Our latest edition of Top Hat and Thimble is out now! 📰 Hear from @sumitecon.bsky.social on the AI bubble, get all the Microsoft/OpenAI/Musk drama, the latest on Google and search remedies, and more! Read it here: newsletter.nextgencomp.tech/p/top-hat-an...
Top Hat & Thimble - May 2026
Welcome to NextGen Competition’s monthly recap, delivering insider insights on antitrust battles, Big Tech shakeups, AI trends, and more.
newsletter.nextgencomp.tech
Maybe tech companies should design AI platforms with safety built in from the start, instead of treating harm as a PR problem after the fact. Typical Big Tech: maximize engagement, downplay the risks, and blame users when things go wrong. 🙄 theconversation.com/if-ai-is-add...
If AI is addictive, where does the responsibility lie – with big tech or its users?
Generative AI systems show signs of being addictive, but the evidence is still at an early stage.
theconversation.com
