Politics

Joe Biden Torches Trump’s Tech Bros ‘Oligarchy’ in Farewell Address

DARK WARNING

The president pointed to a “very few, ultra-wealthy people” and warned of “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.”

President Joe Biden, in his farewell address Wednesday night from the Oval Office, pointed the finger at a “very few, ultra-wealthy people” as he warned about the spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media and the abuse of artificial intelligence—each consequences of a “tech-industrial complex” that could grow even more powerful in the next Trump administration.

Though he didn’t say his name, Biden alluded to his successor’s self-identified “first buddy,” Elon Musk, the billionaire head of X who donated more than a quarter-billion dollars to Trump’s re-election campaign and who is deeply involved with AI.

“There’s a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people. There are dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked,” Biden said. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

After highlighting his efforts to thwart climate change, and how “we’ve proven we don’t have to choose between protecting the environment and growing the economy,” Biden said that “powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interests for power and profit.”

Biden, quoting President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1961 farewell address urging Americans to be wary of the “military-industrial complex,” offered a revised version for 2025.

Joe Biden
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 15: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office while (from left to right) U.S. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. First Lady Jill Biden, son Hunter Biden listen on at the White House on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Samuel Corum/Getty Images

“Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well,” he said.

“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking,” he said, alluding to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Trump-friendly decision to ditch fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, where millions get their news.

“The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,” Biden continued. “We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”

AI, Biden said, is the “most consequential technology of our time—perhaps all-time,“ and its risks require action.

“Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy and our security, and our society—for humanity. Artificial intelligence even has the potential to help us answer my call to end cancer as we know it," he said.

“But unless safeguards are in place, AI could spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation. We must make sure AI is safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind.”