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Biden time
Does Joe Biden care about tech?
It’s literally not a priority for the president-elect, if you parse through his transition website, BuildBackBetter.com. Technology is barely mentioned.
That may be a relief for some in Silicon Valley, where some entrepreneurs have pined for a mythical time when technology supposedly existed outside of politics. That utopia never existed, of course — the internet was a Defense Department research project — but it rarely pays to dispel people of their much-loved illusions.
President Trump’s dalliances with Bay Area tech have been brief and quarrelsome. Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick quit a Trump advisory board within the first weeks of the administration, under fire from employees and customers alike. Tesla CEO Elon Musk quit two boards over Trump’s exit from the Paris climate accord. The attempt to force the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to Oracle and other investors is tied up in legal battles.
A president who doesn’t really care about tech might be a disappointment for those who remember President Barack Obama’s seemingly mutual love affair with the sector. That relationship may have peaked with Obama’s 2011 dinner in Woodside with the likes of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
It’s hard to see Biden breaking bread with Zuckerberg, even after the pandemic ends. He has been sharp in his criticism of Facebook, which his team recently ripped for continuing to allow the spread of misinformation about the results of the election. A Biden administration could work with Congress to overhaul the regulation of social media. But again, that’s not one of his stated priorities, and it’s easy to see that fading into the background, along with viral memes about Pennsylvania vote-counting.
The wealthiest of San Francisco and Silicon Valley will not like his tax plan, but they may count on a divided Congress to block any serious efforts to pass new taxes. (If the Democrats take both Georgia Senate seats in the January runoff election, that may change, of course.)
Instead, Biden’s emphasis on building back Main Street and supporting small businesses may well end up enriching tech further. Think about it: From Google ads to Salesforce marketing software to Square cash registers, Silicon Valley rings the bell when small businesses do well. Tech companies have been delivering blockbuster earnings during a pandemic that has shifted more and more business online. New habits around shopping online and working from home won’t disappear just because a coronavirus vaccine arrives.
It’s the ultimate irony of Biden’s plan: A lot of the money he’s pledging to small businesses may ultimately flow into the hands of Big Tech.
— Owen Thomas, othomas@sfchronicle.com
Quote of the week
“Data on the activity of third party sellers should not be used to the benefit of Amazon when it acts as a competitor to these sellers.” — European Commission competition regulator Margrethe Vestager, on opening a new investigation into the e-commerce giant
Coming up
Dreamforce is still happening, but you won’t have to worry about downtown San Francisco traffic. The 2020 version of the Salesforce conference is all-virtual. Marc Benioff’s traditional keynote, originally scheduled for Thursday, has been pushed back to Dec. 2.
What I’m reading
Mohd Abuzar shares what it’s like to be virtually left for dead by Facebook. (Vice)
Carolyn Said on the businesses and workers affected by AB5 whom Proposition 22 didn’t help. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Nilay Patel interviews Mark Cuban on health care, 5G and the NBA. (The Verge)
Tech Chronicle is a weekly newsletter from Owen Thomas, The Chronicle’s business editor, and the rest of the tech team. Follow along on Twitter: @techchronicle and Instagram: @techchronicle
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November 11, 2020 at 07:00PM
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Biden’s tech ambivalence may be a relief for Silicon Valley - San Francisco Chronicle
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