The Rulers

“The fight to tame big tech is probably the greatest challenge of our age, posing political and economic threats the world has never seen. Cecilia Rikap is one of the most exciting thinkers in this field, and this extensively researched book shows in terrifying detail how companies like Google, whose stated mission is ”to organise the world’s information,” are increasingly able to organise us.”
—Nicholas Shaxson, author of The Finance Curse: How Global Finance Is Making Us All Poorer

“A searing work that shines a forensic spotlight on the 21st century’s Big Tech monopolists. Rikap’s analysis and her insider accounts reveal how predatory AI hyperscalers feed on our data and are subverting the nature of knowledge itself. This is a timely, much needed intervention to help consumers and governments understand the distortive, dystopian nature of techno-feudal capitalism.”
—Mehreen Khan, economics editor, The Times

“The definitive guide to Big Tech’s power and how they came to dominate the commanding heights of the economy. Urgent and necessary reading!”
—Nick Srnicek, author of Silicon Empires: The Fight for the Future of AI

“Cecilia Rikap is one of the most interesting and energetic researchers on AI, and The Rulers is a magnificent, devastating book. Rather than provide character studies of rich men, Rikap advances the Big Tech argument with a trove of insider interviews and data and compelling heterodox analysis that demonstrates how a few companies are subjugating politics and academic knowledge. The Cloud is engulfing democracy.”
—Aditya Chakrabortty, Senior Economics Commentator, Guardian

“Amid the slew of books about the economic power of Big Tech, Cecilia Rikap’s stands out—she shows us blueprints for the walled gardens we live in and helps us find a way out.”
—Quinn Slobodian, author of Crack-up Capitalism