2:45 PM – 3:45 PM

The high-tech industry is in the sights of the feds, again, this year.  Sure, electrons are coming up,  but the rhetoric directed at technology leaders from Washington seems to never end. Is this the irrational exuberance of politicians hoping for a few more years on dole? Perhaps not…

The feds first tried to make an example of the “tech” industry back in the days of the so-called “robber barons.” The advent of mass production in the late 1800s treated many companies well. Excessively so, or so the feds said.  Armed with the then newly-minted antitrust laws, the feds sought to break up the monopolies many of those companies had become.

Alas, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And, while they no longer call them robber barons, today’s politicians have equally choice epithets for the mock turtleneck crowd and the companies they run.

It’s no surprise, then, that the feds are at the throats of today’s industrialists, the tech giants. But, now it’s not the once newfound efficiencies of mass production that are to blame, it’s the advantages of being the first-comers and biggest spenders on big data. The exponential growth of that data through IoT and the exponential power of processing it AI are only adding fuel to the fire.

Are the players in IoT, Big Data and AI destined to go the way of the robber barons?  Should they? And, if so, why? After all, the benefits to business and consumers, alike, couldn’t be better: prices are down and capabilities are up. Why would feds or anyone for that matter want to get in the way?

Join us an insightful discussion of the competitive advantages and dangers of IoT, Big Data, and AI, and whether now is the time for federal intervention in companies that harness them.


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