SpaceX’s IPO is restricted to Chinese and Hong Kong investors. There are similar trends in chips and AI technology, too (the Fable 5 LLM model is restricted to the US by the US government because of its power).
SpaceX is not the main thing. The problem stems from gaining access and influence over a country’s defence and intelligence systems, primarily military. The U.S. is not innocent; they scream for freedom, free speech, and democracy, but only for itself.
From a European perspective, we must stand against any restrictions and build mechanisms and systems that always offer more than one option to replace any given one. This is evident in Apple’s restricted access to its brand-new Siri implementation (Apple cannot release the 2026 model of Siri in the EU because of monopoly restrictions although Siri has existed for years). The EU doesn’t allow Apple’s monopoly in its market (up to a certain point). Even for new features or products. Big tech can’t have the same monopolistic and capitalist approach in the EU as they do in the US. The EU stands against this from another angle. Twenty-seven nations make up the EU. The rules are there to balance between them and the rest of the world. 450 million people are a gigantic market for any company, and access should be open to all companies when big tech develops a product.
Related Note(s):
- Capitalism creates wealth through innovation. I wonder how innovation can survive in this tech-war environment.
- Sources: Commentary on “Absent from hot IPOs? Chinese Investors” by Alexandra Stevenson, Maureen Farrell, Lauren Hirsch, New York Times International Edition, July 13-14 + “Apple AI Upgrade Kept out of Europe for now” by Adam Satariano from the same newspaper.
