Mike Allen

The epic fight over funding the government captures the power—and flaws—of the new information ecosystem. Elon Musk and his followers on X proved they dominate the Republican media industrial complex—using a digital revolt to kill a spending bill, and open the door to a government shutdown. That revolt was powered by some false information, tweeted with total self-certainty.

Elon Musk is arguably the most powerful person in business, the most powerful man in media and, at least at this moment, the most powerful man in politics.

Governance, media, business and global geopolitics are all being reordered at breakneck speed—all simultaneously.

America witnessed tectonic shifts in politics and society in 2024 that will reshape elections, business, culture and the nati

The incoming Trump administration will give Silicon Valley moguls unprecedented federal power, with tech-friendly officials and policies intertwined throughout government. The

Elon Musk—the most influential backer of President-elect Trump, thanks to his money, time and X factor—now sits at the pinnacle of power in business, government influence and global information (and misinformation) flow. As this election showed, politics and influence flow downstream from information control. Musk, once seen by many as a fool for buying Twitter, now controls the most powerful information platform for America's ruling party. X makes Fox News seem like a quaint little pamphlet in size, scope and right-wing tilt. Imagine you wanted to help mold America.

House Republicans plan to launch a new investigative panel that will demand copies of White House emails, memos, and other communications with Big Tech companies. The new panel, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, is partly a response to revelations from Elon Musk in the internal documents he branded the "Twitter Files." The subcommittee will be chaired by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) — a close ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and a favorite of the hard right. The probe into communications between tech giants and

Top Republicans are privately worried about a new threat to President Trump’s campaign: the possibility of Facebook pulling a Twitter and banning political ads. Facebook says it won't, but future regulatory pressure could change that.

President Trump's campaign and key allies plan to make allegations of bias by social media platforms a core part of their 2020 strategy. Look for ads, speeches and sustained attacks on Facebook and Twitter in particular, the sources say. The irony: The social platforms are created and staffed largely by liberals — but often used most effectively in politics by conservatives. The charges of overt bias by social media platforms are way overblown, several studies have found. But, if the exaggerated claims stick, it could increase the chances of regulatory action by Republicans

The US is now in a winner-take-all race with China for dominance in 5G, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Dr. Graham Allison, a specialist in national security at Harvard said, "The story beneath the story is the Great Rivalry between a meteorically rising China and a ruling US. The very idea that a Chinese company could displace the US as No.