Big Tech votes to own its destiny
Silicon Valley is voting from the shadows. We’ve seen big-name backers support US presidential candidates and congressional races. Tech industry workers are also active contributors, notably to Vice President Harris. But a much larger influence has emerged in 2024 behind the scenes of the electorate. This is the silent play of Big Tech to both US Presidential campaigns.
The tech industry has a history of progressive members, but has recently blurred this paradigm with several high-profile endorsements and campaign contributions. It was hard to miss the outsized support for Donald Trump by Elon Musk, followed by other prominent technologists, including Mark Andresson, Peter Thiel, and Former Sequoia Capital head Douglas Leone [1][2]. Outspoken on the Democratic ticket for Vice President Kamala Harris include LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates. It’s a toss-up in cash and signaling. One thing that’s clear, however, is the willingness of tech leaders to convey a kind of neutrality, even if that includes removing any former progressive sentiment (such as the tech industry’s support of Biden in 2020). To this end, several Big Tech CEOs have made offerings to former President Trump along the campaign trail.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Trump after his assassination attempt to commend his heroism. Google CEO Sundar Pichai allegedly praised his McDonalds visit. And Apple CEO Tim Cook apparently called in to discuss his frustration with EU fines levied on Apple. These reports are unclear and may be examples of flattery tailored to this President’s distinct ego. But they would align to an unusual courting of presidential candidates compared to previous election cycles. Vice President Harris has a history of interactions with the tech community in her home state of California, but in response to her recent declarations of tech regulation and anti-trust busting, active impartiality may be the best strategy for its leaders. On this note, we also saw Amazon founder Jeff Bezos remove the Washington Post’s longstanding tradition of endorsing presidential candidates, citing a “perception of bias” as a core concern.
Why the impartiality? A unifying theme is that tech leaders are more hostile to regulatory interference than ever. At the beginning of the year, the DoJ took aim at large mergers with Big Tech and its increasing acquisition activity of AI outfits, including Meta’s Instagram and Whatsapp purchases. In August, Google lost a major antitrust case in its search business. Antitrust lawsuits have also been filed between the DoJ and FCC against Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta. Amidst this crackdown, tech giants have been battling fiercely to defend their moats and regulation to improve user privacy and safety laws. These include the Algorithmic Accountability Act, Federal Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Act , Kids Online Safety Act, and California’s Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act. A record number of legislation (120 AI bills in Congress) has put the tech industry on its toes, causing a groundswell of political spending action to safeguard an unimpeded future. Loyalties are being calculated on this condition to the detriment of fundamental protections and privacy for millions of Americans.
At the time of this article’s writing, the 2024 US Presidential Election was not called for either candidate. That has since changed. Donald Trump’s sweeping victory across the seven swing states has put the tech industry’s strategic positioning into sharper focus. Despite anti-regulatory positions in his previous term, Trump has shown disdain for Big Tech’s size and manufacturing developments offshore. It appears likely that Trump’s biggest backers, like Elon Musk, gain greater influence on policy by leveraging their close relationships with the president. It will also introduce considerable volatility due to his unpredictable nature regarding regulatory scrutiny. The tech landscape remains uncertain under a Trump administration 2.0, but it appears that direct relationships to the president’s ear are the surest bet to dictate what restrictions or anti-trust investigations are carried out or scrapped.
We saw personal appeals by tech leaders to Trump throughout the election, and we will likely see more of it in the coming years as tech companies seek to protect unmitigated AI development, acquisitions, and muted policy over their handling of the digital landscape. Whatever regulatory posture Trump takes toward Big Tech in 2025, the departments and bureaus he presides over are more likely to execute his will directly. This election has laid bare the lengths to which technocrats will go to ensure their interests are untouched. As trust in these tech organizations continues to plummet, the question remains: how much of our political future is up for determination by the few controlling our digital infrastructures? Or are we willing to fight back against the encroachment of our fundamental rights and, increasingly, democratic principles?
Further reading:
- Silicon Valley, the New Lobbying Monster | The New Yorker
- What Donald Trump’s Win Will Mean for Big Tech | Wired
- We Don’t Have to Let Big Tech Money Dominate Elections | Brennan Center for Justice
- The Inevitability of Big Tech Backing Trump | Wired
- Europe’s Big Tech Hawks Brace for a Post-Biden Future | Wired
