Big Tech: Too Big To Fail?

Inaugural Professorial Lecture: Alexandra Andhov

Professor Alexandra Andhov is the inaugural Chair in Law and Technology and Director of the Center for Advancing Law and Technology Responsibly (ALTeR) at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Law and Faculty of Business and Economics.

Professor Andhov's research focuses on corporate law, capital market law, and the regulation of emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. She has published extensively in leading European and U.S. law journals and with esteemed publishers like Hart Publishing, Cambridge University Press, or Edward Elgar. Professor Andhov's forthcoming edited volume, with Cambridge University Press, The Cambridge Companion to Big Tech, offers a comprehensive and critical examination of Big Tech companies' business models, technologies, and governance and regulatory frameworks.

Big Tech: Too Big To Fail?

A handful of corporations and individuals now control the digital infrastructure upon which billions depend—our communications, marketplaces, and increasingly, our AI systems. This concentration of corporate power operates at unprecedented scale and speed, transcending borders while shaping public discourse, markets, and democratic processes.

When technology companies become essential utilities yet remain private entities answerable primarily to shareholders, fundamental tensions emerge. Can democracies govern platforms that move faster than legislation? What happens when “too big to fail” meets “too powerful to regulate”? And how do we preserve democratic accountability when critical infrastructure sits in private hands?

Professor Andhov examines the collision between concentrated corporate power, technological transformation, and the future of democratic society.

The inaugural lecture will take place from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Wednesday, 15 April, in OGGB5 Lecture Theatre (Building 260, Level 0), 12 Grafton Road, Auckland. Light refreshments will be served at 5:15 pm.

Professor Andhov’s Inaugural Lecture forms part of the ALTeR Inaugural Conference, ‘Law, Technology, and Government’, taking place on 16–17 April. For more information and registration, please visit: https://www.alter.auckland.ac.nz/inaugural-conference-2026/