The Verge Editor-In-Chief Nilay Patel breathes fire on Elon Musk and Donald Trump's Big Tech enablers

The Verge Editor-In-Chief Nilay Patel is one of the most blunt voices in American media.

Which is precisely why I wanted to sit down with him for a discussion on Elon Musk’s transition to “dark MAGA” billionaire and, more broadly, how Donald Trump's victory will impact the technology world. Suffice to say, Patel did not pull any punches.

Below is the Q&A, lightly edited for clarity and style.

What do you make of Elon Musk's alliance with Donald Trump and what worries you the most about him playing such an outsized role in the Trump administration?

America now has an unelected defense contractor sitting in the White House doing ketamine and twiddling the algorithmic knobs of an influential right-wing echo chamber while fulminating against traditional standards-based journalism, threatening to revoke network broadcast licenses, and suing advertisers who don’t want to spend their money on his dwindling user base. What could go wrong?