Trump makes America Inc’s grip on the world even tighter

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“I miss nothing,” declares Dirk Schrödter, the digitisation minister for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Over a video-call using OpenTalk, a German alternative to Microsoft’s Teams, he explains how in the past two years he has moved some 30,000 of the state’s civil servants from the American company’s collaboration and productivity tools to open-source alternatives. He has now begun the process of shifting staff from Windows to Linux, an open-source operating system.

The move has attracted the attention of public officials elsewhere who are also keen to cut ties with America’s tech giants. “Every week we have questions from other states, other cities and governments inside and outside of Europe,” he says.

The growing interest in open-source software reflects a new geopolitical reality. America has long used its commercial prowess to hurt its enemies, such as imposing sanctions against Iran and Russia. But now, even allies worry that it could cut off their access to critical technologies – or at least threaten to during, say, a trade negotiation.

Governments abroad are examining the extent to which their ability to operate depends on American suppliers. Fears were stoked last May when Karim Khan, then the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, lost access to his Microsoft email account after President Donald Trump brought sanctions against the court over its issuing of an arrest warrant for Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. (Microsoft says it did not cut its service.) Another jolt came this June when Trump forced Anthropic, an artificial-intelligence lab, to temporarily cut off access to its latest models in foreign countries. America’s allies also took note when it twice paused its supply of weapons to Ukraine last year.

American firms win a small share........

© Brisbane Times