It wasn't until the evening of his televised farewell to the nation that Joe Biden identified, on Wednesday, January 15, what could have been a strong campaign message. The Democratic president, about to give way on Monday, January 20, to Donald Trump, issued a warning to the American people about "the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country." In a speech tinged with melancholy, even darkness, and for once stripped of self-congratulatory statistics, Biden seemed to bid farewell to 50 years of public life, but also to a country he no longer recognizes, plagued by unfamiliar demons, while praising its enduring strengths. "Now it's your turn to stand guard," he told his fellow citizens. "May you all be the keeper of the flame."

According to the president, "an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead." The shadow of Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of X, hovered over the Oval Office as Biden made this observation, in which Trump's name was not mentioned. Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta) have also wooed and gave unprecedented favor to the president-elect, who has been delighted by the courtesies. But Musk alone represents unparalleled internal and external destabilizing power and the embodiment of an alarming confusion between personal interests and commitment to public life.

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