Davos 2018: The ‘seven sisters’ of tech should be curbed says Sorrell

Advertising giant WPP’s boss Sir Martin Sorrell warned on Tuesday over the oligopoly of tech giants and called for more accountability.

He said the “Seven Sisters” – the world’s seven dominant firms, five in the US including Google and Amazon with China’s Tencent and Alibaba – should be under more scrutiny and have the same responsibilities as traditional companies.

“The big issue will be, do these companies have to be regulated, or not? Google and Facebook control 75% of digital advertising – digital advertising is about 30% of the world market – is that an issue or not?” Sorrell told CNBC in Davos.

Sorrell also argued that cutting-edge tech, such as advancements in AI, will change the way people work. “Do the improvements result in increased employment, less employment or the same number of jobs? That’s a big issue.”