"THE BIRTHDAY of a new world is at hand." Ever since Thom-as Paine penned those words in 1776, America has seen itself as the land of the new-and Europe as a continent stuck in the past. Nowhere is that truer than in the tech industry. America is home to 15 of the world's 20 most valuable tech firms; Europe has one. Silicon Valley is where the brainiest ideas meet the smartest money. America is also where the debate rages loudly over how to tame the tech giants, so that they act in the public interest. Tech tycoons face roastings by Congress for their firms' privacy lapses. Elizabeth Warren, a senator who is running for president in 2020, wants Facebook to be broken up.
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