Luke Thomas: Meta just announced new “AI parental controls” after the FTC raised concerns about chatbot safety and child exploitation—but as former FTC chair, Lina Khan, explains, these reforms might be more PR than progress. She tells Luke why Meta’s corporate culture still rewards recklessness, how Microsoft’s consolidation of the gaming industry hurt consumers, and why monopoly power quietly shapes nearly every part of daily life.

The conversation moves from the failures of tech self-regulation to Microsoft’s post-Activision layoffs and price hikes, then zooms out to examine how concentrated corporate power warps everything from media to manufacturing. Khan argues that America’s growing dependency on a handful of companies—Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and others—creates both political and moral hazards, allowing executives to profit while the public absorbs all the risk.

Listen to the full conversation over on Luke’s Substack:

https://lthomas.substack.com/

If you enjoy independent political analysis and want more deep dives like this, subscribe to the channel.

Chapters

00:00 Meta’s AI “safeguards” questioned

00:40 Lina Khan on Meta’s reckless culture

01:20 Meta’s history of ignoring harm

02:00 Microsoft’s Activision deal fallout

03:00 Gamers react to price hikes

04:10 Lina Khan on gaming layoffs

05:10 Why anti-trust must be proactive

06:00 Monopoly power and illusion of choice

07:00 Consolidation and national risk

08:00 Infant formula shortage example

09:00 What monopoly really looks like today

10:00 The “illusion of choice” in consumer brands