The coronation of emperor CEOs?

For the first time in history, during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it wasn’t a military superpower, but a civilian, that changed the outcome of the war.

Elon Musk deployed Starlink Internet in Ukraine, allowing an invaded country to regain communications and coordinate their defenses. He would later intervene again to limit Ukraine’s use of Starlink’s internet for offensive attacks into Russian territory to prevent the escalation of the war.

As Musk tweeted: “Between Tesla, Starlink & Twitter, I may have more real-time global economic data in one head than anyone ever.” It’s clear AI will only accelerate the power of tech CEOs.

Will they become national assets, protected as defense weapons by the CIA and FBI? Or, on the contrary, will governments use their legislative and judicial power to try and squash competitive powers like Musk?

Will attacks be carried out through a million legal paper cuts that impede CEOs from exercising their democratic rights, or through shady Putin-style accidents in which political dissidents fall from stairs or, more appropriately here, mysteriously lose control of their AI-driven vehicle?

And what happens to democracy if a non-elected citizen manages to hold more financial power and political influence than the entire country?