Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Permack. On today's show, some thoughts on what automation really means for workers and why cloud software is more about the oceans than the skies.

But first, Elizabeth Warren's plan to break up big tech. So last Friday, presidential candidate and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a new plan to combat the growing power and influence of big technology companies, like Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

Like much of Warren's policy prescriptions, this is about, in her words, making sure companies, quote, play by the rules, call it conscious

capitalism rather than democratic socialism. But she also wants to rewrite and strengthen those

rules, including antitrust regulations that are now over 100 years old. So, two big planks to her

plan. First, Warren wants to basically prohibit large tech companies from both

owning a network and participating on that same network, saying it creates a conflict of interest.

So, for example, in the case of Amazon, think about how it creates its own private label

products that compete against third-party sellers all within the Amazon ecosystem.

Second, Warren wants to appoint regulators who would roll back existing mergers she views as

anti-competitive, and not just relatively recent ones, like Amazon buying Whole Foods or even

Facebook buying WhatsApp.

For example, she'd like to unwind Google's purchase of double-click, which would be nearly

14 years old by the time of President Warren takes office.

So all of this would obviously be a radical change for Silicon Valley and big tech,

but it's clearly where the Democratic Party is headed as a whole.

And for President Trump, who regularly bashes these same big tech companies,

it could become very tricky to oppose on a debate stage.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper with Axios Tech Policy Reporter David McCabe.

But first, this.

There is more news out there than ever before, but these days, it's harder than ever to find it and to know what to trust.

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