The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley

Marietje Schaake's 2024 book argues that the concentration of AI and platform power in a small number of US technology companies represents a structural threat to democratic governance — not a future risk, but a present condition. Drawing on her decade as a European Parliament member working on digital policy, she makes the case for why voluntary commitments and self-regulation have failed, what effective binding regulation looks like, and why Europe's approach to AI governance — despite its imperfections — is closer to the right answer than the US hands-off model. Essential reading for anyone working on EU AI Act compliance who wants to understand the political economy behind the regulation.

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