All the big bosses of American tech have aligned themselves as one man (or almost) behind Donald Trump since his election. Some turnarounds are spectacular or even caricatured, like that of Mark Zuckerberg in the accelerated Trumpization phase, others were expected. In any case, the sector sees the future tenant of the White House as a champion of deregulation, in cryptocurrencies as well as in generative AI.
$1 million favors
Like car manufacturers, technology giants have written $1 million checks to finance Donald Trump's inauguration, which will take place on January 20.
Some donations are surprising: Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, who is hardly suspected of sympathy for Trump's radical policies, has thus put his hand in his pocket, even evoking a "great American tradition" (Apple had gave $43,200 for Joe Biden's inauguration four years ago).
Tim Cook, but also Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI, or Dara Khosrowshahi (Uber) have drawn on their immense personal fortunes, but Microsoft, Google, Meta and Amazon have contributed as companies, to the tune of $1 million each. The top bosses of these companies will also attend the event next Monday, with the exception of Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia.
The rush to donate money to Donald Trump’s inauguration has raised the suspicions of two Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennet. They gave the leaders until January 25 to answer a series of questions, in a letter shared by Sam Altman. “We are concerned that your company and other Big Tech donors are using your massive contributions to the inaugural fund to cozy up to the Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favors,” the senators wrote.
And it’s true that all of these companies have run-ins with U.S. regulators over multiple cases related to their business practices or abuses of dominance. The senators want to know the circumstances under which the companies decided to contribute to the inaugural fund, the rationale for the donations, whether the board of directors was notified, and whether there was any prior communication between officials and members of Donald Trump’s transition team.
“The industry’s efforts suggest that Big Tech is seeking to curry favor and skirt the rules. This might be good for billionaire tech executives, but it would be bad for America," they wrote. Altman responded with irony, wondering why he didn't get the same letter when he donated to Democrats.
The OpenAI executive also explained that since his contribution was personal, he doesn't understand what the questions about his company (which didn't yield anything) have to do with it. Yet as the company's chief spokesperson and public face—akin to Tim Cook at Apple—that distinction seems thin. So pushing the “personal giving” argument seems somewhat hypocritical, especially if the Trump administration’s future policies turn out to be favorable to their respective companies.
Source: CNBC
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