Cloud Capital is not a tangible entity but an omnipresent force that manipulates human behaviour. “It exists not in the sky but in the Earth’s infrastructure”, networks of machines, server farms, cell towers, and the miles of fibre optic cables that span the ocean floors. Unlike traditional capital, which involves tangible means of production used to create goods and services, such as land where one can open a shop or a tractor used for farming, Cloud Capital does not produce physical goods. Instead, it lives within platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and even Amazon, which are tools for behaviour modification. These platforms, owned by a select few, wield immense power, making them remarkable forces capable of extracting value from millions, if not billions, of people.
The owners of Cloud Capital, whom we might call “Cloud Lords,” have shifted the power dynamic. They don’t produce anything in the traditional sense but control the platforms where countless people interact daily, seeking to accomplish various tasks. This ownership makes these Cloud Lords incredibly influential, allowing them to extract value from users, whether they are workers, middle-class individuals, or even the wealthy. These platforms are designed to train us to desire what they want us to want and then sell it to us directly, bypassing traditional markets.
The machinery of Cloud Capital doesn’t just modify our behaviour; it enlists us to sustain itself. Every time we post a review, rate a product, or upload content, we contribute to the perpetuation of Cloud Capital without receiving any compensation. In effect, we have become Cloud serfs, toiling away to sustain this vast network, generating immense profits for billionaires without any direct effort on their part.
Cloud Capital has taken over five roles that traditional capital could not achieve. It grabs our attention, manufactures our desires, sells us what we now want, drives labour inside workplaces, and elicits massive amounts of unpaid labour from us, giving the richest individuals unprecedented power to wield.
Unlike traditional capitalists like Henry Ford, who were monopolists within the market, Cloud Lords like Jeff Bezos operate outside the traditional capitalist framework. When you enter Amazon.com, you are not entering a market but rather a digital platform where Bezos controls everything. He owns the algorithms that decide what you see, ensuring that every transaction maximises his profit. Up to 40% of what you pay on Amazon goes directly into Bezos’s pocket as Cloud rent, a form of exploitation far removed from traditional capitalism.
Cloud Capital has replaced the two pillars of capitalism: markets and profit. While these elements still exist, they have been pushed to the margins of our socio-economic system. Markets have been replaced by digital platforms like Amazon, which are not true markets, and profit has been replaced by Cloud rent, a new form of rent extracted from those who use these platforms.
The rise of Cloud Capital began in the late 1990s when the original internet, once a capitalism-free zone, was privatised by emerging big tech companies. The funding for Cloud Capital came largely from central banks in G7 countries, which printed trillions of dollars to bail out bankers after the 2008 financial collapse. While traditional capitalists hoarded this money in the form of assets, tech giants invested it in creating Cloud Capital, leading to the emergence of a new ruling class: the Cloud Lords.
In this new world, real power no longer resides with the owners of factories, machinery, or industrial robots. These old-fashioned capitalists have become vassals to the Cloud Lords, who now dominate the global economy. As a result, we have returned to a form of serfdom, where, unbeknownst to many, we end up serving those who already have everything. One may argue that this is just another form of late-stage capitalism. However, Cloud Capital is fundamentally different from traditional capitalism. It does not rely on markets or profits, but on controlling behaviour and extracting rent from digital platforms. This is not capitalism but technofeudalism—a new system where Cloud Capital dominates and exploits us in ways that traditional capitalism never could. In the past, billionaires sought to reduce workers’ rights to increase profit margins and ensure longer working hours, but now they are not content with that alone. They want to intrude even into your free time, influencing you in ways that would make them more profitable.
Recognizing that we live in a technofeudal world is crucial. It helps us understand the enormity of the challenge we face in organising resistance against this new form of exploitation. The victims of this system are no longer just wage labourers, but also the millions of Cloud serfs who sustain Cloud Capital with their unpaid labour. Organising these victims will require new strategies and alliances, as the traditional methods of labour organising are no longer sufficient.
The only way to challenge Cloud Capital is to reclaim it collectively. We must take back control of the digital platforms and networks that have been used to exploit us. This will not be easy, but it is the only way to transform Cloud Capital from a means of behavioural modification into a tool for human collaboration and emancipation.
In this new world, we have nothing to lose but our minds. It is time for the Cloud serfs, Cloud workers, and Cloud vassals to unite and reclaim the digital commons for the benefit of all, preventing the super-rich from gaining an unassailable position of power. The time to act is now before it becomes too late to undo their influence.