📢 Musk’s Treasury Access, FCC’s Big Tech Battle, China Targets Google
Good morning. It’s Tuesday, February 04. Today we are covering:
A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
Big tech critic to take key FCC role
China Hits Back at Trump With Tariffs on US Goods, Google Probe
Ontario cancels, then restores, $68 million Starlink contract after protesting US tariffs
Apple's attempt to intervene in the Google Search antitrust trial is denied
Let’s dive in
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A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System
By Vittoria Elliott via WIRED
Marko Elez, a 25-year-old engineer with prior experience at SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), has admin-level access to two of the U.S. Treasury’s most sensitive payment systems, raising concerns over security risks and potential misuse.
Sources report that Elez’s access goes beyond read-only privileges, allowing him to modify critical government payment infrastructure, which handles disbursements totaling more than $5.45 trillion annually—a level of access that experts deem highly unusual.
Senate Democrats warn that Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) operatives could use this access to withhold funds from federal programs, a fear intensified after Treasury official David Lebryk resigned following a standoff over DOGE’s influence.
𝕏: WIRED continues to lead the reporting on what's happening inside the US government right now. A 25-year-old Musk acolyte now has admin privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more. - David Gilbert (@daithaigilbert)
Big tech critic to take key FCC role
By Ben Smith via Semafor
Adam Candeub, a Big Tech critic and former Trump official, has been appointed general counsel of the FCC, where he could push for regulations targeting Google, Meta, and other tech giants.
Candeub played a key role in efforts to weaken Section 230 protections for social media platforms and has advocated for treating them as common carriers, a stance that could reshape online speech regulations.
His appointment signals Trump’s continued crackdown on Big Tech, aligning with broader efforts to use antitrust law to curb the influence of dominant firms, despite criticism that such moves could enable new government restrictions on speech.
𝕏: Scoop: Big tech critic will be FCC general counsel This is ... not the guy Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai would have chosen. - Ben Smith (@semaforben)
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China Hits Back at Trump With Tariffs on US Goods, Google Probe
By Josh Xiao via Bloomberg
China retaliates against Donald Trump’s new tariffs by imposing 10-15% levies on U.S. energy products and agricultural tools, aiming to send a warning shot without escalating tensions.
Beijing also targets specific American companies, with measures designed to pressure U.S. businesses while maintaining strategic restraint in the ongoing trade war.
Among the immediate actions, China launches a probe into Google, signaling a potential broadening of economic retaliation beyond tariffs.
𝕏: #China Hits Back at Trump With Tariffs on US Goods, Google Probe - Giovanni Staunovo (@staunovo)
Ontario cancels, then restores, $68 million Starlink contract after protesting US tariffs
By Dominic-Madori Davis via TechCrunch
Ontario Premier Doug Ford initially canceled a $68 million Starlink contract in protest of Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on Canadian goods, but later reinstated it after Trump delayed the tariffs for 30 days.
Ford also threatened to ban U.S. companies from future Ontario contracts unless the tariffs were lifted, accusing Elon Musk—a close Trump ally—of backing policies that harm Canadian businesses and workers.
The contract, signed in November 2024, aims to expand Starlink’s satellite internet to remote parts of Ontario, aligning with Musk’s broader push for government partnerships while overseeing Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
𝕏: After just this morning promising to rip up the deal, Doug Ford this afternoon (quietly) said he’s going ahead with paying Elon Musk $100M for Starlink access Possibly the worst premier ever, no wonder Ontario has become a have-not province - Tom Parkin (@TomPark1n)
Apple's attempt to intervene in the Google Search antitrust trial is denied
By Umar Shakir via The Verge
Apple’s request to intervene in the Google Search antitrust trial was denied by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, preventing the company from influencing how a potential Google breakup could impact its business.
The Department of Justice argues that Google should be forced to sell Chrome and possibly spin off Android, with the remedies phase of the trial set for April—Apple had sought to protect its lucrative $18 billion annual search deal with Google.
The ruling reinforces that Google was found liable for holding an illegal monopoly, and any potential breakup could reshape the tech industry’s search and mobile ecosystems.
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