Calling Out Big Tech

The most fearless voice in tech journalism and author of the bestseller “Burn Book” shares her predictions about the future of the digital landscape - and the need to keep holding tech giants accountable.
Brian Chesky, Interviewer
Kara Swisher
Now in its 20th year, the Aspen Ideas Festival is the Aspen Institute’s signature summer public event. From June 23-June 29, 2024 more than 300 leaders and innovators gather in the Rocky Mountains to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the issues that shape our lives and challenge our times, spanning politics, business, science, the arts, education, and more. #AspenIdeas
For more information about the Aspen Ideas Festival, visit www.aspenideas.org.

[@coreyepstein7140]

She is insufferable

[@47imagine]

Agreed.

[@mariamathews5312]

This women is so annoying and unbelievably arrogant. Karen vibes

[@JayEs31]

Kara has become so toxic. She adds no value anymore, just her relentless anti-tech anger. Unfortunately her awesome interviews back in the Walt moss berg days are replaced with her vitriol and petty envy. #sad.

[@Ellerich800]

Moral panic about new things and their inventors goes way back perhaps to the invention of fire and the wheel. She calls herself optimistic yet she isn't.

[@icaprone1]

tech happily tramples the public that made it...bye

[@cocheshiperdesportivos7181]

Wheres walt

[@chrisg8995]

If you zoom out you realize she just rambles for a hour and there are no real insights to glean from this interview.

[@shriparamsothy9750]

agree

[@VincentFulco]

great catch!

[@Hawking1969]

She's all that's wrong with Silicon Valley

[@DerDudelino]

Very interesting conversation. I think the reason we want Billionaires and tech to fix our problems is because they tend to be much, much smarter than your average politician. That become abundantly clear in the senate hearings where you could see that 90 percent of all senators are too dumb and way too lazy to ask and research basic tech questions and a 9 year old would outsmart them. It was not their lack of knowledge, but the fact that most of them were too lazy to google their questions beforehand to not embarrass themselves. After those hearings I've understood why the US is such a completely disfunctional country.

[@ExecutiveZombie]

Gang. Gang. 😎🇺🇸

[@altaccount4590]

wonderful

[@casanico2082]

"Claudishly"... Never heard before

[@laviefu0630]

Check these out then say which side you're on? Big Tech or Kara Swisher? 9:10 And you're not like a typical critic because there are a lot of tech critics that seem like they just don't want the technology to happen. They don't want you to be successful. But I always felt like you were always rooting for people. Even people you were angry, you didn't have disdain for people. You're like, "well, I hope they do the right thing." And that's something that I think is maybe distinct from other critics. 3:00 Some people get annoyed when I say I like certain people, I don't like certain people, but there's behaviors I like which include "ability to say you're wrong", "ability to admit mistakes", not "not make mistakes" and to sort of "fess up to your responsibility" 8:35 But you have a family that I think speaks the truth to you, right? Now their families are on the payroll. I can think of a few people like that where nobody can talk back. And so I think my role is to say, I don't want to put it out as a parent because I have children, they're not, and they're also not children, is to say, "just a second, what if this happens? What if that happens?" And we (the government) do it with every other corporate, pharmaceutical companies or polluters or oil and gas. They all have to take their medicine. 33:05 (Accusing Google then)because you're being thuggish if you want 92%. How can innovation thrive? There's never going to be another search engine. No one's going to get in the business. There's not going to be innovation if there isn't more companies competing, right? Competition brings innovation. It absolutely does in the end.

[@VincentFulco]

Pre-interview, betting she's going to complain about lack of access to Elon...LOL.

[@organic506]

Didn't watch, just wanted to comment and say this lesbian is Insufferable.

[@cyberspelunker1980]

“You should pay for what you say”. Nah, that’s not free speech. Boring pointless interview.

[@brianwheeldon5732]

That’s exactly free speech: the govt doesn’t prevent you from saying something stupid in public, and you get called out for saying something stupid

[@rjpj474]

what a tremendous fall...

[@warsan415]

Kara benefited from proximity to tech through reporting and her ex-wife. She made a career to pointing to obvious after the fact. She has little intellectual contributions. He talks are getting stale.

[@calvinkiwa5666]

52 minutes and not one meaningful insight was made.

[@kathrynsheehan7727]

Kara is an amazingly intelligent person.

[@paulgilliland2992]

Anyone who wears sunglasses inside needs a massive ego check. Except for Bill McDermatt who actually looks pretty cool inspite of his injury.

[@christieknapp5453]

She is the best!

[@alexcipriani6003]

stoped listening once the race card was pulled

[@Yourmission9]

Kara is awesome, she calls it as she sees it, and is honest in her convictions