At Tech's Leading Edge, Worry About a Concentration of Power

In the have-not camp, they warn, will be university labs, which have traditionally been a wellspring of innovations that eventually power new products and services. "The huge computing resources these companies have pose a threat -- the universities cannot compete," said Craig Knoblock, executive director of the Information Sciences Institute, a research lab at the University of Southern California. The research scientists' warnings come amid rising concern about the power of the big tech companies. Most of the focus has been on the current generation of technology -- search, online advertising, social media and e-commerce. But the scientists are worried about a barrier to exploring the technological future, when that requires staggering amounts of computing.