Big Tech cozied up to Trump — it’s not getting much in return
1 min read
Summary
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to tax tech firm’s advertising revenues if the US fails to make progress in tariff negotiations.
This would be a setback for Mark Zuckerberg and other tech bosses, who had backed the new US administration in the hope that Trump would be a strong partner to take on the EU.
Europe is already set to fine Apple and Meta for falling foul of its Digital Markets Act, while Elon Musk’s popularity in the US has declined in line with his increased support for Trump.
Meanwhile, TikTok faces an increasingly uncertain future in the US.
Adam Foroughi, CEO of TikTok bidder AppLovin, said the situation is such a mess that the US stock market tanking has drowned out shareholder feedback.
Thisispayer, a coalition of academics and researchers, has called for open-source code and the publication of training data and waster to fight AI bias.