Digital Bandung - The Ideas Letter
The recent turn to the language of “digital empire” and “data colonialism” captures aspects of the concentration of technological power, but often mistakes polemic for analysis. Slobodian revisits the history…
Digital Bandung Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire, a painting by Ilya Repin, 1891. © Pierce Archive/Getty Quinn Slobodian May 14, 2026 | The Ideas Letter 64 In recent years, it has become common—even unavoidable—to refer to the internet, AI, and digital capitalism in terms of empire and colonialism. A partial list of recent high-profile books that use the language includes Empire of AI (2025) by Karen Hao, Silicon Empires (2025) by Nick Srnicek, The New Empire of AI (2025) by Rachel Adams, Digital Empires (2023) by Anu Bradford, and Cloud Empires (2022
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