Throughout modern history, governments have worked with and invested in privately owned companies

to spur innovation and advance national agendas, from the production of weapons to the development

of communications technology. These partnerships have proven fruitful,

if in some cases controversial over the years.

There's no better example than Washington's partnership with the U.S. tech sector.

Starting in the 1990s with the help of government funding

and a loose approach to regulation,

technology companies produced innovation after innovation.

This boosted U.S. financial markets to unprecedented heights and allowed the U.S. tech sector

to dominate its competitors in other countries.

In a break with historical moments like the Manhattan Project or the space race, the most advanced tech in the world

began coming out of private American companies rather than government-directed projects.

The arrangement was wildly successful in an era of relative peace and low-level threats to U.S. national

security.

But many say that it is showing some cracks in the new era of increasing competition

between the United States, Russia, and China.

And many experts are growing increasingly concerned.

And that's because the government now relies on trillion-dollar companies, such as SpaceX,

Amazon, and Google, for things like space travel and satellite intelligence.

Companies that could, potentially, put their own preferences above national interest when it comes to foreign policy and security.

I'm Gabrielle Sierra, and this is why it matters.

Today, are private tech companies becoming geopolitical actors?

...