Donald Trump and the tech world: What will the next four years be like for the big tech giants, and what will we learn from the next one?

On Wednesday, the chief executives of the leading Big Tech companies congratulated the President-elect. As their companies face a fresh four years of operating under an influential politician, Microsoft’s Chandrasekhar, Tim Cook, and Andy Jassy were quick to get behind Donald Trump.

Trump has made it clear that he disdains Big Tech companies and that he thinks they should be subject to more unfavorable regulations. Business leaders and venture capitalists worry that an unpredictable administration will undermine the stability of their businesses.

And now, with Elon Musk as his biggest supporter, “this might be a moment in which there’s a picking of favorites amongst the big tech players,” says Betsy Cooper, director of the Aspen Policy Academy.

In addition to his promises of mass deportations, Trump is also planning to impose tariffs on China that could cause massive price hikes for imported goods in America. How far the administration will go is an open question, and one that makes predicting the future with any certainty — inside and outside the tech industry — difficult to do.

Bernstein said in a note that Apple may be less vulnerable than initially thought because the company can absorb higher tariffs. Apple has also been diversifying its supply chain by producing products in different regions, like Vietnam.

What do we really want to do about online speech violations? An expert analysis of the kids online safety act (KOSA) and his presidential proposal (and more)

The Section 230 liability shield can be changed by the Trump administration and the Republican legislature to let them punish companies for making moderation decisions. In addition to the option of passing actual laws changing Section 230, Brendan Carr suggested in his Project 2025 chapter that the FCC could narrow its protections for a broad range of content moderation decisions. Ultimately, any executive or legislative changes to online speech rules could face the Supreme Court, which has so far upheld the right to conduct content moderation, although it signaled openness to potential legal changes in the future.

Trump hasn’t said much about where he stands on this topic or on the leading congressional bill on the subject, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). It is not immediately clear what the future holds for the bill after passing through the Senate in combination with an update of children’s data privacy law. Current Republican House leadership has expressed concerns that KOSA could unduly limit speech, so a Democratic House might be more open to giving it floor time, but ultimately, the concerns with the bill don’t fall entirely down partisan lines.

The leader of the group opposed to KOSA stated that Democrats should be cautious on the bill under a Trump presidency. “Democrats will have to decide whether they want to hand Trump & MAGA state law enforcers a powerful new censorship tool,” he writes.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Nathan Dean sees just a 30 percent chance of continued EV tax credits under Trump. He is optimistic that the government will continue to promote the benefits of electric vehicles, along with efforts to replace the tax credits with consumer incentives that could benefit traditional manufacturers.

The bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, passed under the Biden administration, is critical to maintaining control over the supply chain for medical tech because it injects funds into creating a domestic semiconductor production industry. Soon after, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that he was open to repeal the law, but he later backpedaled and said he was merely suggesting that it be repealed. Trump can’t undo a law on his own, but he could perhaps instruct his Commerce Department to slow-walk aspects of its rollout.

Trump has made significant overtures to the cryptocurrency industry, headlining a major Bitcoin conference this summer and picking up significant support from prominent crypto investors like Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. With Trump’s election, the industry is likely to get its top wish: the ouster of Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, whom the industry views as its chief antagonist. Expect more hands-off regulation of this industry, as President Trump has called for making the US aBitcoin superpower.

Conservatives including Trump have long complained about social media platforms suppressing conservative speech and accused them of bowing to Democratic government pressure to remove things like election or vaccine misinformation. Even before his reelection, platforms like Meta had heeded Republican pushback and loosened their moderation standards.

Source: What a second Trump presidency means for tech

The Impact of a Second Trump Presidency on Tech Policy: Starlink, the Universal Service Fund, and the First and Second Trump Taxes

In his government efficiency role, Musk could restrict the programs that aid Starlink’s competitors, like the Universal Service Fund. That program helps service rural communities with broadband — places where Starlink is well positioned to move in.

A Republican FCC will likely loosen broadcast merger and acquisition rules, as well as allow more concentrated control of TV stations. Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who served during the first Trump administration, has called for tech companies to pay into the Universal Service Fund, which is funded by telecommunications providers.

Net neutrality — which already faces an uphill battle in the courts after SCOTUS rolled back Chevron deference — is likely dead under a Trump administration. Nathan Dean of Bloomberg Intelligence believes that the FCC could abandon its effort to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers and subject them to greater regulatory scrutiny.

That could have huge implications for the many tech companies that use components made in China and for companies that rely on China for a large part of their business strategy. This is another area in which the influence of Musk could be wild.

Source: What a second Trump presidency means for tech

Trump’s role in the tech sector: Where do we stand, what will we see next, and what will he tell us about AI policy?

What Trump can do is limited if the Supreme Court and the DC Circuit both reject the law, but the DC Circuit upholds it. Under the law, he needs to certify to Congress that there is a real plan for the sale of TikTok. The law does leave the president some discretion to determine whether more apps besides TikTok fall under the divestiture law’s purview and what represents an adequate separation. But TikTok is written into the statute, so Trump can’t just decide it no longer applies.

While business leaders may be relieved if Khan leaves the FTC, Rie says we shouldn’t expect “a return to the relaxed antitrust climate of 10 years ago … some aspects of the current aggressive approach will stick. Republicans no longer uniformly lean more business-friendly than Democrats.” She says it is largely dependent on Trump, but that recent revised merger guidelines could be in trouble because of his appointments.

The legal battles against Meta, Google, Apple, and Amazon are expected to continue under Trump. Depending on who he puts in, it could take a more modest measure to make up for how Trump feels about a company. “A slight increase in settlement prospects is possible down the road, especially if the cases don’t seem to be going well for the agencies,” Rie writes. Trump doesn’t believe that the company should be broken up. The cases could be used to get favorable treatment for speech and content concerns.

Though Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance, has publicly praised Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, it’s not clear how committed Vance is to this stance or how much sway he will have. If he does get a say here, we could expect a continued crackdown on big tech firms to benefit “little tech” or startups that VCs like Andreessen Horowitz (another Trump supporter) want to see rocket with growth.

AI policy is an area where Elon Musk will likely seek to exert his influence, assuming he and Trump remain on good terms. Musk co-founded Xai but later distanced himself from the firm after it was sued. Musk has supported AI safety measures like California’s controversial and ultimately vetoed SB 1047, and he previously signed a call for a moratorium on major AI developments for safety reasons. But his focus on existential risks has been criticized by some AI researchers as a distraction from more immediate risks like discrimination.

The next four years of tech policy will be very unpredictable. But even as Trump tries to expand his authority, he’ll need support from the courts and Congress. As Trump assumes the presidency, we will be keeping an eye on his policies.

Trump, meanwhile, will have more power than ever — he’s rooted out former supporters who encouraged restraint during his first term, and key allies have sprawling plans for overhauling the administrative state.

Eight years ago, the November US election results profoundly shocked the small staff at Backchannel, the boutique tech publication I headed. On the morning after, an editor said that working on a technology story seemed tone-deaf. On a plane from New York to San Francisco, I wrote a column to answer that impulse, directed as much to myself and my colleagues as it was to readers. I argued that regardless of the enormity of this event, one thing hadn’t changed; the biggest story of our time was still the technological revolution we were living through. Disruptive politicians may come and go or not. The chips, the network, the mobile device, and all of that changed humans and maybe what it will mean to be a human. Our job was to chronicle that epic transformation, no matter who was politically in charge. The headline of my column was “The iPhone Is Bigger Than Donald Trump.”

This week, Trump was re-elected as president. oh hell, I won’t go through the litany of what would seem to be slam-dunk disqualifiers. It is unimportant to the majority of voters. It’s an unbelievable story, and the next few years will undoubtedly be the stuff of history. It might not be in a good way. It’s not a great way to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday since many expected to celebrate its values. (In the spirit of unity, I’ll use the “maybe” qualifier since losers should be humble, and who knows what’s ahead.)

I’m not giving up on my opinion from a year ago. As Stewart Brand once said, “Human nature doesn’t change much; science does, and the change accrues, altering the world irreversibly.” What is happening in technology and science remains the activity that will ultimately make the biggest impact on our species. Hundreds of years later, future generations (and possibly Ray Kurzweil) will look back at this time and identify it as the period when microchips and neural net software changed everything. And who was that strongman with the funny hair who crashed the country that used to occupy real estate in the Western Hemisphere? I’m no longer the publisher and instead represent a single voice in a larger staff. (For WIRED’s institutional view, please note the words of my boss, which I endorse.) I repeat my statement of purpose from last year that artificial intelligence is bigger than Donald Trump.

Journalists must cover Trump’s second presidency with great force and demands for accountability. The latest version of Claude, for example, or even Apple Intelligence, may not be relevant in the long term, but what happens in our community and country will have a bigger impact on our lives. Sorry, Tim Apple. The knowledge that artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and quantum computers will someday be able to redefine us isn’t going to ease the pain of losing your healthcare, reproductive rights, or being sent to a deportation camp.

That’s why, the day after Donald Trump got reelected, I visited an AI company and interviewed one of its leaders and a top engineer. Yes, on the walk back to the office I thought about the election results and got depressed all over again. I will finish the article and do another about that company as long as my broken heart keeps beating. It’s still the biggest story in town.