In the past, the EU has not hesitated to try to apply European law to tech companies. Over the past decade, for example, Google has faced three fines totaling more than $8 billion for breaking antitrust law (though one of these fines was overturned by the EU’s General Court in 2024).

I would prefer to stay out of politics,” Elon Musk told his followers in 2021, on the platform then known as Twitter. Plenty has changed since then. The world’s richest man appears to have a new goal: upending Europe.

Bill Gates blasted fellow mogul Elon Musk’s “populist stirring” in Europe, calling his influence “insane s–t.” In a wide-ranging interview with the Times of London, the Microsoft founder pointed to Musk’s meddling in Germany’s upcoming election,