What is Big Tech?
The term Big Tech is one amongst many other monikers, labels, and abbreviations, such as the GAFA and FAANG, which have been accorded to a collection of large scale, predominantly American ‘technology’ companies in recent years.
These companies are collectively projected to control 30% of the world’s gross economic output by 2030. The revenue generated by these companies year on year has been compared to the GDP of small nations. Yet, each of these companies have different business models, market interactions, and societal influence.
This raises the question: what is Big Tech? Are there a common set of characteristics beyond market power and being technology companies? How does bigness relate to societal power and influence? How is Big Tech different from other types of Big Business?
In this chapter, we argue that it is essential to conceive of Big Tech as a concept, rather than a fixed set of companies. As a concept, Big Tech has four core conceptual markers:
- Data-centric models: The collection, analysis and monetisation of data is central to their business models.
- Network effects: They have achieved immense scale quickly through network effects. This insulates them from competition, contributes to their size, and often results in market dominance.
- Infrastructural role: They also provide essential market and informational infrastructure for a digital economy and society.
- Civic Power: Through their consumer-facing products and services, that enable essential services like news, commerce and societal interactions, they increasingly play civic functions in society.