On June 24, 2026, in Washington, DC, we convened policymakers, researchers, journalists, technology experts, and political strategists for an event designed to help shape the next phase of American political debate. The convening elevated the fight against concentrated private power as a central priority for democratic renewal while helping refine and mainstream emerging arguments around platform power and political economy.
In this issue, we take a look at how a new royalty scheme by dominant music streaming service Spotify shortchanges smaller artists in favor of the large music labels.
A new Industry Spotlight on container shipping shows how decades of deregulation and consolidation have left the United States dependent on a ‘container cartel’ of six foreign-owned shipping firms which control more than 90 percent of US trade on major routes. It recommends a series of fixes to improve the U.S. outlook.
As debates about AI governance and transparency sweep across governments, the Open Markets Institute has joined an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold California's law requiring AI companies to disclose information about the data used to train their models.