Ï’m here because I’m a refugee”- It was the former president of Alphabet and Co-founder of Google Sergey Brin at the San Francisco airport among protestors. The 2017 Trump administration had implemented the travel ban. At that time none of us had imagined after eight years he would be sitting among Trump’s nationalists during his second inauguration

Once a fighter for liberal causes, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was there too. He has said what the New York Times says, “been done of politics”. Mark sits there calmly. He’s ready to embrace what people call “the right-wing”.

And the most notable among the tech billionaires was Elon Musk, once a staunch advocate for the Obama vision, Now Elon Trump’s major team player.

And then there were more, from Sundar Pichai to Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Tim Cook of Apple.

The blue America (US states who support democrats) have been anxious and upset over Silicon Valley turning red (The color of the Republicans)

The presence of Big Tech mavens has stirred of the Democratic America. But the question begs: What made the American Big Tech, who’s been historically known for siding with the democrats, have taken this turn towards the right?

The Conniption Towards Biden’s Administration

A series of factors surfaced that led to the changing of Silicon Valley’s political behavior.

The apparent cause lies with the Biden Administration’s antitrust enforcement on the giant tech firms. In the past 5 years, Tech giants have been brought to the Department of Justice and admonished, rebuked, criticized, and demonized by the government authorities.

The most dramatic session was of Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by the U.S senate . He wasn’t there alone. Other social media executives were there with him.

What do you expect when you attack a bunch of tech giant bosses in a court run by your government? Do you think they’ll be backing you up the next time?

Despite the Biden government’s pro-business approach and its view that citizens love a regulated digital world and effective labor laws, Silicon Valley has drifted away from it.

Throughout these years, Silicon Valley’s chumminess towards the Democrats has been fueled by this ideal deal: The Democrats will advocate for better technology and innovation, a lightly regulated digital world, and encourage entrepreneurship.

The tech Valley on the other hand will promote liberal values, the welfare system, imposition of taxes, philanthropies, and of course, the Democrats.

It was a win-win situation. And it has remained so until recent years when the relationship started to rot.

While the regulation enforcement approach does play a vital role in tech backing the right, there are some more.

Worsening Economic Conditions

Since the 2010s, the American tech industry has had a golden moment in which it has prospered beyond anyone’s imagination. The main reason for this was the entrepreneur mindset backed by the Democrats along with steady and controlled inflation. Investment in

Tech and AI had been at an all-time high. Investors had enjoyed considerable gains.
Even with the imposition of taxes, the growth soared and a time came when taxes did not seem much of a problem.

But in 2022, that bubble started to burst. Trade wars, geopolitical tensions, and inflation shaped tech stocks as something risky and nonvolatile.

To curb inflation, the government increased interest rates. Borrowing investment became challenging.

With the presence of other less volatile assets such as real estate and gold, the money was directed away from tech companies. They were now deemed a less stable option for your money. The tech boom was over.

Biden’s Regulations

We have already mentioned earlier that antitrust lawsuits and regulatory compliances were created against tech companies, but we have not discussed to what extent.

Apart from the antitrust lawsuits. Tough scrutiny measures, and merciless court grilling there were more actions. For Americans with at least $100 million in wealth, A new unreleased gain tax was imposed of 5%. New AI safety measures were introduced that limited the horizons tech leaders could innovate to.

These were a real burden to small and medium tech firms where leaders were there with dreams. Until now, these leaders and founders have had more or less two options: To either scale their newly found young form or sell it to a larger rival. Most of the young tech founders would opt for the latter option. But with the introduction of the new gain tax, mergers and acquisitions become less and more challenging. And this wasn’t just aimed at AI and tech.
Soon the tech leaders, both of smaller and bigger firms were fed up. It was eventually imminent to side away from Biden’s democrats and side with someone else.

Demonizing Big Tech

Biden’s action created this evil image of the tech industry. People have started them as a force of evil and wrongdoing. It was the administration’s responsibility to maintain a positive image of the tech leaders.
During the time of Obama, he would visit Silicon Valley and dine in with the big tech leaders. They were loved and respected in the media. The democrats would hail them as a force moving the country forward. This all changed during Biden’s tenure.

When Mark Zuckerberg was made to apologize to the parents whose children had been the victims of child abuse, he was portrayed everywhere as a demon. This was said for the whole industry and was fatal for someone who already has a lot of money and now craves for higher social status.

There have been no attempts by the Biden’s government to make up for that image ever since.

The Democrats have paid the price for neglecting the big tech. They had to shift sides. AS the new government approaches, the question comes: How will big tech grow and exist under the new leadership?