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Jennifer Johnson

@jen-johnson.bsky.social
805 followers 195 following 46 posts

Columnist (tech/media/telecoms) at Reuters Breakingviews

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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Slightly mystified by this reaction. I'm not convinced your average business or individual user needs the smartest frontier models. We're still figuring out how to monetise the prior-generation ones.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
So what I'm taking away from this is that the official US government policy is now: "We're rolling the dice on the AI apocalypse, suckers!"
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Reposted by Jennifer Johnson
Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 14/08/2026
Palantir’s American exceptionalism has downsides www.breakingviews.com/columns/cons... @jen-johnson.bsky.social
breakingviews.com
Palantir’s American exceptionalism has downsides
The US accounted for more than 80% of the $426 ​bln group's sales last quarter. ​Analysts reckon the proportion will ⁠rise in the coming ​years. European customers are uneasy about ​the software compa...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Seems bad. Anyway, time to get the Strait of Hormuz opened for those oil and gas shipments.
reuters.com
Explainer: France has seen its first 'fire-cloud'. What is it?
France is grappling with an unprecedented fire season that has led to the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people and dealt a blow to the ​economy during the peak tourist season.
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Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 17/07/2026
New UK cloud oversight majors on the wrong risk - @jen-johnson.bsky.social - www.breakingviews.com/columns/cons...
breakingviews.com
New UK cloud oversight majors on the wrong risk
Rules ‌requiring critical tech suppliers to meet resilience standards are overdue. But AWS and ​Microsoft's grip on up to ​80% of the UK's core cloud ⁠market is a sovereignty issue, not ​just an opera...
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Reposted by Jennifer Johnson
Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 21/05/2026
By conventional measures, SpaceX's rockets, satellites and AI lab don’t add up to anything near its IPO’s ‌targeted $1.75 trillion valuation. Use Breakingviews' new interactive calculator to work out how much value is being ascribed to colonizing Mars and other moonshots: reut.rs/4wJd6VZ
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Feel like some light reading on a Friday? I've written a piece on what embattled SaaS groups can learn from Kant and Heidegger. But don't worry, it's really about why AI agents aren't doing your job (yet). www.reuters.com/commentary/b...
reuters.com
Breakingviews - How German philosophy can beat the SaaSpocalypse
Enterprise ​tech's selloff isn't over, ⁠with SAP ​and Salesforce still down ​25% this year. Investors doubt incumbents can ​be AI ​winners. But they could be, ‌if ⁠they can get familiar with a word be...
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Reposted by Jennifer Johnson
Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 14/04/2026
Universal's real problem is its shaky growth pitch www.breakingviews.com/columns/cons... @jen-johnson.bsky.social
breakingviews.com
Universal's real problem is its shaky growth pitch
Hedgie Bill Ackman hopes to ‌revive the $41 bln music label’s flat valuation, through measures including a US relisting and buybacks. But financial ​engineering won’t cause a lasting key ​change. Gett...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I am 100% convinced he's making these images himself and I need to know what the prompts are.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Two headlines on the Reuters newswire right now. Hard to know what the market is feeling so optimistic about.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Fellas: if this looks like your idea of a good time, may I suggest checking out a "trading floor".
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Prediction markets are supposed to aggregate information, not reward traders with access to non-public knowledge. Here's my piece on how insider trading fears could undermine liquidity, trust and the platforms themselves.
reuters.com
Breakingviews - How insider-trading fears harm prediction markets
Six Polymarket accounts may ⁠have made $1.2 ​mln betting on the ​ouster of Iran’s leader, in trades funded ​hours before ​an air strike killed him. ‌Worries ⁠about unfairly clued-up counterparties may...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Nothing says "done" like "very complete, pretty much".
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Approaching a major international conflict like a Call of Duty campaign.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Tired: SpaceX will be a $1.5 trillion memestock. To the moon! Wired: SpaceX is a mostly a satcoms business with a lot of new AI risk (and rivals waiting in the wings). Here’s my latest for @breakingviews.reuters.com:
reuters.com
Breakingviews - SpaceX’s nascent monopoly faces durability test
Achieving a valuation of $1 trln or more is only a first step for the rockets‑and‑satellites group. Post IPO, rivals like Amazon will roll out competing broadband services, threatening its market shar...
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Liam Proud @liamproud.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
YouTube is eating TV (streamers too) - and there's not much that traditional broadcasters can do about it @jen-johnson.bsky.social www.reuters.com/commentary/b...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
The UK really pulled out all the stops for that state visit...and still got tariffed for sending a single military officer to Greenland.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
If regulators won’t enforce their digital safety rules now, when will they? Here’s my take on the Grok issue for @breakingviews.reuters.com www.reuters.com/commentary/b...
reuters.com
Grok no-brainer is make-or-break for EU tech rules
European Union lawmakers agree that explicit images generated by Elon Musk’s chatbot are immoral and illegal. The EU Digital Services Act can ban miscreants or fine them up to 6% of sales. If its wiel...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
Wild that this is now necessary to report accurately on a tech platform and its features: "A Reuters reporter asked Grok on X to convert a picture of himself into one wearing a bikini, echoing what has become a common request [...] by users." www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
reuters.com
Musk's AI bot Grok limits image generation on X to paid users after backlash
Elon Musk's startup xAI has restricted the image generation function on its Grok chatbot on social media platform X to paid subscribers, after the tool's use of AI to create sexualized images sparked ...
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Reposted by Jennifer Johnson
Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 05/01/2026
The biggest M&A deal ever. An easier ride for fiscally challenged governments. A crypto bailout. Those are some of the things Breakingviews columnists predict for 2026 in a new e-book, ‘Far Side of the Boom’. Access the book 👉 reut.rs/3YDKKwu Or read articles online 👉 reut.rs/45puKSz
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Reuters @reuters.com · 03/01/2026
From Breakingviews - Breakingviews - US raid on Venezuela threatens new global ruptures reut.rs/4jrILFa
reut.rs
Breakingviews - US raid on Venezuela threatens new global ruptures
The Trump administration’s seizure of autocrat Nicolas Maduro risks worsening a refugee crisis that has seen 8 mln flee the South American nation while renewing superpower jockeying in the hemisphere. The rash move promises dire uncertainty and increased risk of global conflict.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Put ads everywhere? Turn the BBC into Netflix? On paper, there are plenty of alternatives to the licence fee. In practice, most roads lead to one destination: a shrunken BBC. I look at the numbers in my latest column. www.reuters.com/commentary/b...
reuters.com
Breakingviews - BBC funding options mostly require it to shrink
The public broadcaster is renegotiating the $5 bln Britons pay it annually, amid an impartiality storm. If politicians make this ‘licence fee’ optional, the BBC could try funding itself via advertisin...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
The new season of the White Lotus practically writes itself.
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Reposted by Jennifer Johnson
Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 03/10/2025
EU M&A rules morph from growth catalyst to weapon - www.breakingviews.com/columns/cons... @jen-johnson.bsky.social
breakingviews.com
EU M&A rules morph from growth catalyst to weapon
Brussels’ overhaul of merger guidelines is ostensibly aimed at enabling growth-enhancing deals within the bloc. But amid US trade tensions, souped-up M&A constraints also offer a way for the EU to push back. American and other foreign firms may soon find their wings clipped.
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Reuters Breakingviews @breakingviews.reuters.com · 30/09/2025
UK cyber support invites more moral hazard - www.breakingviews.com/columns/brea... @jen-johnson.bsky.social
breakingviews.com
UK cyber support invites more moral hazard
The state is guaranteeing a $2 bln loan to JLR, whose IT systems were attacked. Domestic industries received similar support during Covid-19, but this crisis could have been mitigated with proper cyber insurance. A detail-free bailout may encourage others not to pay for cover.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Pretty sharp reversal given Zuckerberg was (reportedly) trying to entice AI talent with billion-dollar pay packages only a few months ago.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Kids will inevitably use VPNs to dodge online age restrictions. And a generation equipped with privacy tools is a lot harder for advertisers to target. Here's my piece on the knock-on impacts of online safety laws 👇
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Suddenly Blue Origin isn't just the rocket company that did the all-female gimmick spaceflight. It's now the heir apparent to all of SpaceX's government launch contracts.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
This is the same guy who claims "population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming."
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
RedBird might have got the Telegraph, but its headaches aren't over. Here's my column on the latest chapter in the broadsheet's sale saga. 👇
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
"The Journal earlier reported that the device won’t be a phone, and that Ive and Altman’s intent is to help wean users from screens." Think I speak for all millennials when I say I'm not excited about the surveillance Tamagotchi.
wsj.com
Exclusive | What Sam Altman Told OpenAI About the Secret Device He’s Making With Jony Ive
The idea is a “chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here,” Altman told OpenAI employees Wednesday.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Armchair energy experts started blaming renewables as soon as the lights went out across the Iberian peninsula. Here's my piece on why the grid deserves more attention, regardless of what caused the blackout. www.breakingviews.com/considered-v...
breakingviews.com
Iberia mess places timely focus on grid resilience
Spain and Portugal are yet to identify the cause of their mega-blackouts. But the need for major investment in electricity grids, to cope with swings in power supply and demand as the world electrifie...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
How it feels explaining The Formula to people who think the UK got off lightly with a 10% tariff.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Apropos of nothing, I've just remembered that Liz Truss blamed the Bank of England for undermining her policies.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Understandably, most governments favour a "negotiate first, retaliate later" approach. But there's no way the U.S. can hold talks with ~60 aggrieved trading partners at once. Some will surely have to retaliate before they've had chance to plead their cases.
reuters.com
Trump tariffs: List of global responses and countermeasures
Governments around the world pledged counter measures on the U.S. after President Donald Trump unveiled on Wednesday a new baseline 10% tariff on goods from all countries plus reciprocal tariffs on those that his administration says have high barriers to U.S. imports.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Can’t stop thinking about the big tariff chart Trump was waving around. Did they get it made at a DC print shop yesterday? Or use one of those online services where you send in your PDF and get the poster board mailed to you?
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
This has the energy of an unhinged game show.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
If I heard correctly, Trump just said the Great Depression was caused by a lack of tariffs? That's just not true. The Smoot-Hawley tariff made matters worse.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
I imagine we're going to see a few more journalists adding their Signal accounts to their bios. Just on the off chance they somehow get looped into a top secret intelligence briefing.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Obviously this whole thing is wild. But I can't get over the National Security Council spokesperson saying the thread is "a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials". Real glass-half-full thinking there.
theatlantic.com
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Carr is very concerned about freedom of speech. But isn't blocking an M&A deal on the basis that a company has a DEI policy...kind of like censorship?
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Does Europe have a candidate to replace Starlink in Ukraine? The answer appears to be yes, but it wouldn't be a straightforward switch. And time, not money, is the limiting factor. Here's my latest for @breakingviews.reuters.com
reuters.com
Breakingviews - EU’s big Starlink headache is time, not money
As relations between Ukraine and the Trump administration sour, Kyiv has encountered a pressing problem: it relies on Starlink to help its military coordinate operations. The good news is that it wouldn’t break the bank to replace Elon Musk’s satellite operator with kit supplied by $3 billion Anglo-French rival Eutelsat . The bad news is that executing such a switch would be highly complex – and couldn’t happen overnight.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
This is obviously a consumer confidence issue in the economic sense. But it's hard to imagine consumers feel confident getting on planes given DOGE has been trying to find "efficiencies" in air traffic control...
reuters.com
'Big Three' US airline stocks tumble as forecast cuts spook investors
Shares of the "Big Three" U.S. carriers slumped in premarket trading on Tuesday after disappointing forecast adjustments from Delta Air Lines and American Airlines sparked concerns about the impact of a slowing economy on travel demand.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
"Give us your resources or we'll shut off your internet" is a potent threat. A cautionary tale for countries where Starlink use is growing. www.reuters.com/business/us-...
reuters.com
Exclusive: US could cut Ukraine's access to Starlink internet services over minerals, say sources
Ukraine's access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was brought up in talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Zelenskiy turned down an initial proposal from U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Musk's team "have moved sofa beds onto the fifth floor of the agency's headquarters, which contains the director's office and can only be accessed with a security badge." It's like they're attempting a coup via hackathon.
reuters.com
Exclusive: Musk aides lock government workers out of computer systems at US agency, sources say
Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
"Eric Trump described the Trump coin as 'the hottest digital meme on earth'." Sometimes I think about how phenomenally difficult it would be to explain what this means, and why it's in a news article, to someone who'd been living off grid for 15 years.
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Worth mentioning ahead of Musk's AfD chat: Germany hasn't embraced Starlink, his satellite internet venture. Its military reportedly called off talks over using the service last Feb. And Angela Merkel has called the group's sector dominance "a huge concern".
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Tempted by a digital detox? You're not alone. Here's why I reckon the dumb phone could make a comeback in 2025. www.breakingviews.com/considered-v...
breakingviews.com
Brick phones will ring in an unlikely revival
Nokia handsets of the early 2000s are appealing to a generation seeking a digital detox. The market, which is only 2% of US devices, is growing fast having doubled in a year. With the likes of Austral...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Vivendi's breakup was meant to free the company from a conglomerate discount. But investors have decided the parts are worth less than the bundle. And that probably has to do with a certain controlling shareholder... Here's my piece on the spinoff saga: www.breakingviews.com/considered-v...
breakingviews.com
Vivendi’s discount haunts Bollorés post-breakup
The media group split in four to shed a conglomerate valuation penalty. The bits are now collectively worth just 8 bln euros, implying no upside from the move. One lesson is that the discount was alwa...
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Jennifer Johnson @jen-johnson.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
The Telegraph wants a new owner but is struggling to get one. And broadcaster ITV isn’t courting a deal, but probably should. Here's my column on the M&A obstacles facing both groups: www.breakingviews.com/considered-v...
breakingviews.com
Lack of M&A is squeezing Britain’s media old guard
The Telegraph newspaper wants a new owner but is struggling to get one. And $3.5 bln broadcaster ITV isn’t courting a deal, but probably should. Government intervention, or the threat of it, is a bloc...
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