Vice President JD Vance, who was backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, has voiced his concerns about the influence of big tech companies, asserting that these companies wield “too much power.”
What Happened: Speaking on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Saturday, Vance was asked about the prominent presence of tech leaders at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
This included names like Meta Platforms, Inc.’s META Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon.com, Inc.’s AMZN Jeff Bezos, Tesla Inc.’s TSLA Elon Musk, Apple Inc.’s AAPL Tim Cook, and Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Sundar Pichai.
To illustrate his point, the Vice President noted that the tech leaders did not receive preferential seating over his mother or other supporters. “We believe fundamentally that big tech does have too much power.”
He stressed the importance of tech companies respecting constitutional rights and halting censorship and cautioned that Trump’s administration would not look kindly on non-compliance.
Why It Matters: The tech sector played a crucial role in Trump’s 2024 election victory, with Musk investing significantly in support of Trump and other Republicans.
Trump appointed Musk to lead a new agency focused on reducing federal spending. Other tech leaders also engaged with Trump, visiting Mar-a-Lago before the inauguration.
Vance has been vocal about his desire to break up large tech companies, particularly Google's parent company Alphabet.
Interestingly, the Vice President had a powerful Silicon Valley backer in the share of Thiel who has also funded his 2022 Ohio campaign with $15 million.
Image via Shutterstock
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