Big Tech, also referred to as thetech giants ortech titans,[1] is a collective term for the largest and most influentialtechnology companies in the world.[2][3] It commonly denotes the five dominant firms in the U.S. technology industry—Microsoft,Apple,Alphabet (Google),Amazon, andMeta (Facebook)—which are also thelargest companies in the world bymarket capitalization.[4][5][6] Other companies sometimes included in the grouping includeOracle,Netflix,Tesla, andNvidia, the last of which has emerged as a major player in the 2020s due to theAI boom, surpassing all five traditional Big Tech companies in market capitalization.
The label draws a parallel to similar classifications in other industries, such asBig Oil,Big Soda,Big Pharma, orBig Tobacco.[7] The concept of Big Tech can also extend to the major Chinese technology firms—Baidu,Alibaba,Tencent, andXiaomi—collectively referred to asBATX.
In the late 20th century,IBM,Apple andMicrosoft dominated the IT industry.[8] After thedot-com bubble wiped out most of theNasdaq Compositestock market index, surviving techstartups expanded theirmarket share and became dominant in their markets. The term Big Tech began to appear around 2013, when some[who?] economists speculated that a lack of regulation could lead to concentratedmarket power. The term Big Tech became popular following the investigation intoRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections, because access to alarge amount of data allowed tech companies to influence their users.[9] The concept of Big Tech is similar to how the largest oil companies were calledBig Oil following the1970s energy crisis, and the largest cigarette producers were calledBig Tobacco, asCongress sought to regulate those industries.[10] It is also similar to how, at the turn of the 21st century, themainstream media became dominated by a small number of corporations calledBig Media or the Media Giants.[11]
The following five firms are generally considered "Big Tech" companies.
Alphabet is the parent company ofGoogle, which operates several of the world's most widely used internet services. As of 2024, Google is major provider ofonline advertising (Google Ads),web search (Google Search),video sharing (YouTube), email (Gmail),web browsers (Google Chrome),web mapping (Google Maps andWaze),mobile operating systems (Android), andcloud storage (Google Drive). Its cloud computing division,Google Cloud Platform, ranks third in global market share behindAmazon Web Services andMicrosoft Azure. Google andMeta are often referred to as adigital advertisingduopoly.[12] Advertising accounted for 82% of Google's revenue in 2021.[13]
Alphabet is involved in various research and development initiatives in emerging technology fields includingartificial intelligence,quantum computing, andautonomous vehicles. In 2019, Google announced that itsSycamore processor had achievedquantum supremacy.[14] In 2021, Alphabet's subsidiaryWaymo launched publicrobotaxi services in the United States.[15]
Alphabet reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion for the first time in January 2020, becoming the fourth U.S. company to do so.[16][17]
Amazon is one of the largest globale-commerce companies and operates several other business lines, includingcloud computing,digital streaming, andartificial intelligence. As of 2024, Amazon accounts for 38% of e-commerce market share in the United States.[18] The company'sAmazon Web Services (AWS) division is one of the most widely used cloud platforms and has generated the majority of Amazon's operating profit since 2014.[19][20]
Amazon was the second U.S. company after Apple to reach a $1 trillion market cap, briefly doing so in 2018 and again in early 2020. It closed above that threshold for the first time in April 2020.[21] Although Amazon's valuation fell below $1 trillion in late 2022,[22] it recovered in 2023 and surpassed $2 trillion in June 2024.[23]
Apple designs and sells electronics and software, including theiPhone,Mac computers, and theApple Watch. It also offers services such as theApp Store,iCloud, andApple Music. Apple and Google form amobile operating system duopoly, withiOS holding 27% global market share andAndroid 72%.[24][25]
In August 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization.[26] It reached $2 trillion in August 2020 and $3 trillion in January 2022—the first U.S. company to reach each of those milestones.[27] Apple briefly fell below $2 trillion in January 2023 but again closed above $3 trillion later that year.[28]
Meta Platforms owns and operates majorsocial media and messaging services, includingFacebook,Instagram,Threads, andWhatsApp. Meta generates most of its revenue through advertising, which accounted for 96.69% of total revenue in 2024.[29]
The company entered thevirtual reality market with its 2014 acquisition ofOculus, and in 2021 rebranded from Facebook, Inc. to Meta Platforms to reflect a broader focus on themetaverse, a term referring to digital environments built aroundvirtual andaugmented reality technologies.[30] Such efforts are grouped under the umbrella term "Reality Labs" in its financial statements.[29]
Microsoft developsdesktop operating systems,productivity software, and enterprise and cloud services. As of 2024, its products includeMicrosoft Windows, theMicrosoft Office suite (includingMicrosoft 365), andMicrosoft Teams for business communication.[31] Microsoft is also the second-largest cloud provider throughMicrosoft Azure, after Amazon.[32] It also ownsMicrosoft Gaming, one of the largest companies in the video game industry.
Microsoft reached a $1 trillion market cap in April 2019,[33] crossed $2 trillion in June 2021,[34] and in October 2021 briefly overtook Apple as the most valuable publicly traded U.S. company.
| Company | Revenue (US$)[35] | Profit (US$) | Subsidiaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe | 21 billion | 5 billion | — |
| AMD | 26 billion | 2 billion | — |
| Broadcom | 52 billion | 6 billion | VMware |
| IBM | 63 billion | 6 billion | Red Hat |
| Netflix | 39 billion | 9 billion | — |
| Nvidia | 131 billion | 73 billion | — |
| OpenAI | 4 billion | -5 billion | — |
| Oracle | 53 billion | 10 billion | Cerner |
| Salesforce | 38 billion | 6 billion | Tableau Slack |
| Tesla | 98 billion | 7 billion | — |
| Uber | 44 billion | 10 billion | — |
Several other publicly traded U.S. companies are occasionally associated with Big Tech due to their market capitalization, product reach, or cultural influence. These includeAdobe,Broadcom,IBM,Netflix,Oracle,Salesforce,Uber, andCisco.[36][37]
Nvidia is asoftware andfabless semiconductor company that designs and suppliesgraphics processing units (GPUs),application programming interfaces (APIs) fordata science andhigh-performance computing, andsystem on a chip (SoC) units for mobile computing and automotive markets. Nvidia is the dominant supplier of hardware and software used byartificial intelligence systems.[38][39][40][41]
Nvidia reached a $1 trillion market capitalization in May 2023,[42] and by late 2024, it had surpassed both Amazon and Alphabet in market value. Nvidia subsequently became one of the most valuable publicly traded U.S. companies, alongside Microsoft and Apple.[43][44][45]
Tesla is primarily anautomaker, which has led to debate over its categorization as a technology company. In 2022,Fortune included Tesla in its coverage of Big Tech, andThe Washington Post likened Tesla vehicles toiPhones in terms of ecosystem integration.[46][47] Critics, including analysts atBusiness Insider, argue Tesla should be classified strictly as an automaker.[48]Barron's acknowledged Tesla's position as a tech firm but emphasized that its business model differs from that of traditional IT companies.[49] Part of the rationale for Tesla's inclusion among technology companies stems from its investments inartificial intelligence (AI) andautonomous driving, androbotics technologies.Yahoo Finance andReuters have both noted that Tesla's stock performance has been increasingly decoupled from its vehicle sales and more closely tied to its technological ambitions.[50][51][52]
Tesla first reached a $1 trillion market capitalization in October 2021.[53][54] Its valuation declined during the2022 stock market decline, dropping from $1.3 trillion in November 2021 to $495 billion by the end of 2022, including a 40% loss in December alone.[55][56][57] The company again surpassed a $1 trillion valuation in November 2024, before a decline throughout the first quarter of 2025[58].[59]
The concept of Big Tech can also extend to the major Chinese technology firms—Baidu,Alibaba,Tencent, andXiaomi—collectively referred to asBATX.[60] More recently,JD.com,Meituan,NetEase,SMIC, and automakersBYD andGeely have been discussed as members of an expanded grouping.[61]TikTok developerByteDance anddrone manufacturerDJI have also been called Big Tech.[62][63]
Outside of China, South Korea'sSamsung and Taiwan'sTSMC have also been discussed as members of Big Tech.[64]
In the early 2010s,Alphabet,Amazon,Apple, andMeta were commonly referred to as the Big Four. They were also referred to as The Four, the Gang of Four, and theFour Horsemen.[65][66][67]Eric Schmidt,Phil Simon, andScott Galloway grouped the Big Four together based on their ability to createsocial change. They serve billions of users,[68] and are able to influence user behavior and control large amounts of user data.[9] As such, they have been criticized for creating a new economic order calledsurveillance capitalism.[69] According to Simon and Galloway, this distinguishes them from other Big Tech companies such asMicrosoft andIBM.[70][71]
In 2011, Google executive chair Eric Schmidt excluded Microsoft from the group, stating, "Microsoft is not driving the consumer revolution in the minds of the consumers."[72][73] In the late 2010s, the term Big Four lost favor as Microsoft changed its business strategy and increased its market value, leading to its widespread inclusion among the other four and leading to the Big Five designation.[74][75][76]
| Company | Revenue (USD)[77] | Profit (USD) | Subsidiaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | $350 billion | $100 billion | Google Waymo YouTube |
| Amazon | $637 billion | $59 billion | Audible Twitch AWS |
| Apple | $391 billion | $94 billion | Beats |
| Meta | $164 billion | $62 billion | Facebook Reality Labs |
| Microsoft | $282 billion | $102 billion | Azure GitHub Xbox |
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, andMicrosoft are known as the Big Five tech companies.[74][78][79][80][81] They are among themost valuable public companies.[82][83] In 2020, the Big Five ranked as the second through sixth most valuable public companies in the world, behindSaudi Aramco.[82] In August 2020, the Big Five accounted for nearly a quarter of theS&P 500. In March 2023, Apple and Microsoft accounted for 13 percent of the S&P 500.[84] The Big Five are among the most prestigious employers in the world.[85][86][87]
In the 21st century the Big Five tech companies surpassed themarket capitalization of the historically dominantBig Oil companiesBP,Chevron,ExxonMobil, andShell. In 2019, Jason Whittaker stated that they also outpacedBig Media companies such asComcast,Disney, andWarner Bros. Discovery by a factor of 10.[88] In 2017, the Big Five had a combined value of over $3.3 trillion, and made up almost half of theNasdaq-100.[24]
A broader group known as the Magnificent Seven adds Nvidia and Tesla to the Big Five, based on their substantial contributions to the S&P 500 index since 2022. In 2023, the group was responsible for nearly two-thirds of the S&P 500's 24% gain.[89][90][91][92] The Magnificent Seven delivered a 107% return on investment that year, a performance analysts attributed to the artificial intelligence boom and expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.[93]
By January 2024, the group accounted for 29% of the S&P 500s total market capitalization.[94] In February, as the Magnificent Seven neared a combined valuation of $13 trillion,[95] Deutsche Bank observed that the group's combined market capitalization exceeded that of every public company in every G20 country except China, Japan, and the United States itself.[96]
At the end of the second quarter of 2024, Morgan Stanley estimated that the Magnificent Seven represented 31% of the S&P 500s total valuation.[97] Some analysts expressed concern that the group's extreme concentration could trigger a downturn similar to the dot-com crash or even the Wall Street Crash of 1929.[98] Others argued the companies could continue to outperform due to sustained inflows into index funds.[89]
On August 5, 2024, the Magnificent Seven collectively lost $1 trillion in market value at the start of trading hours.[why?][99]
The term Magnificent Seven was coined in May 2023 by Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett, referencingthe 1960 Western film,[61] and popularized byJim Cramer, the host ofCNBC'sMad Money.[64]
Acronyms such as FANG, FAANG, GAFA, GAFAM, MAMAA, GAMMA, and others have been used to refer to Big Tech companies.[100]Alphabet, the parent company of Google, may be represented by G in these acronyms, andMeta, the rebranding of Facebook, may be represented by F.[75]
The acronym FANG was coined in 2013 by Jim Cramer, to refer to Facebook,Amazon,Netflix, and Google. Cramer called these companies "totally dominant in their markets".[101] Cramer stated that the four companies were poised to "take a bite out of" the declining market, giving a double meaning to the acronym, according to Cramer's colleague at RealMoney.com, Bob Lang.[101][102][103] Cramer expanded FANG to FAANG in 2017, addingApple to the list because its revenue made it a potentialFortune 500 company.[104]
Following Facebook's name change to Meta Platforms in October 2021, as well as the 2015 creation of Googleholding company Alphabet, Cramer suggested replacing FAANG with MAMAA, replacing Netflix withMicrosoft because Netflix's valuation had fallen behind the other companies. With Microsoft, these companies were each valued at over$900 billion compared to Netflix's$310 billion.[75] In November 2021,The Motley Fool suggested MANAMANA (a reference to the 1968 song "Mah Nà Mah Nà") as an acronym that stands for Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon,Nvidia, andAdobe.[105]
At the international level Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent andXiaomi, referred to asBATX, are often seen as Chinese competitors to Big Tech. FuturistAmy Webb has called the combination of the Big Five,IBM, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent "G-MAFIA BAT".[106]
Nikos Smyrnaios argued in 2016 that four phenomena allowed Big Tech to emerge:technological convergence,deregulation,globalization, andfinancialization.[60] He argued that people likeNicholas Negroponte promoted technological convergence and made an Internet oligopoly appear desirable. The complexity ofIT madecompetition law ineffective, resulting inindustry self-regulation. Globalization allowed Big Tech companies to minimize their tax burden andpay foreign workers lower wages.[60] Without regulation, Big Tech earned big profits: in 2014, Google, Apple, and Facebook earned over 20 percent profit margins.[60]
Critics have alleged thatSection 230 of theCommunications Decency Act allowed Big Tech to evade responsibility foruser-generated content. It states, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Section 230 has been called "the twenty-six words that created the Internet".[107][108] Without the legal requirement forcontent moderation, online services could innovate freely and achieved rapid growth in the early days of the Internet.[109]
According toAlexis Madrigal, the innovation that initially characterizedSilicon Valley has been replaced by a strategy of growth through acquisitions.[110] For example, Apple started in 1976 as an engineering-focusedstartup company, and quickly claimed market share from less innovative competitors likeXerox.[110] The tech giants made timely investments in personal computers, websites,e-commerce,mobile devices, social media, andcloud computing, and rank highly on thelist of companies by research and development spending.[111][112] However, large companies tend to focus onoperational efficiency instead ofnew product development.[110]
Legal scholarTim Wu speculated that Big Tech acquisitions could create "kill zones" that stifle competition by taking potential competitors out of the marketplace. For example, Facebook's acquisition ofInstagram prevented Instagram from becoming an independent platform similar to Facebook.[113] On the other hand, Wu stated that Microsoft's concentration of market power created a platform for new kinds of innovation.[114]
According to theInformation Technology and Innovation Foundation, "Virtually all so-called killer acquisitions represent the technologies and capabilities the companies view as critical to their competitiveness. If they purchase a company innovating within this zone, they are far more likely to develop its innovation than to bury it. In doing so, they often make the technology available faster and to more people than would otherwise be possible. If companies are prevented from making acquisitions, they are more likely to copy the products or develop alternative innovations than they are to ignore them. Assuming incumbents don't violate intellectual property laws, this type of competition is both legal and socially beneficial."[115]
Competition betweencloud platforms includingAmazon Web Services,Microsoft Azure, andGoogle Cloud Platform contributed toopen-source software infrastructure includingLLVM and theLinux kernel. The "cloud wars" also caused Big Tech companies to invest indata centers andundersea cables. Theoperational efficiency of Big Techtechnology stacks means startup companies typically must use Big Tech infrastructure instead of building their own.[116][117]
Nikos Smyrnaios argued in 2016 that Big Tech companies concentrate power byvertically integratingdata centers, Internet connectivity, computer hardware (including smartphones),operating systems,applications (includingWeb browsers), andonline services. He also argued that they concentrate power byhorizontally integrating different services such as email,instant messaging,online searching, downloading, andstreaming acrossplatforms.[60] For example, Google and Microsoft pay for their search engines to be included with Apple'siPhone.[118] According toThe Economist, "Network andscale effects mean that size begets size, whiledata can act as a barrier to entry."[119]
According toThe Globe and Mail, both left-wing and right-wing politicians have criticized Big Tech.[120]Progressives have alleged "runaway profit-taking and concentration of wealth", andconservatives have alleged "liberal bias".[120] According toThe New York Times, "The left generally argues that companies like Facebook and Twitter aren't doing enough to root out misinformation, extremism and hate on their platforms, while the right insists that tech companies are going so overboard in their content decisions that they're suppressing conservative political views."[121] According toThe Hill,libertarians oppose government regulation of Big Tech due to their support forlaissez-faire economics.[122]
Scott Galloway said Big Tech companies "avoid taxes, invade privacy, and destroy jobs".[123] Nikos Smyrnaios described Big Tech as an oligopoly that dominates the information technology market throughanti-competitive practices, ever-increasing economic power, and intellectual property.[60] Smyrnaios argued that the current situation is the result ofderegulation,globalization, and the failure of politicians to understand and respond to developments in technology. Smyrnaios recommended developing academic analysis of thepolitical economy of the Internet to understand the methods of domination and to criticize these methods to encourage opposition to that domination.[60]
Big Tech has been criticized for its association with a series of "interconnected and overlapping" techno-futurist movements known as "TESCREAL", which has been criticized as Big Tech and Silicon Valley's perceived belief system.[124][125][126] The movement has been generally criticized as using the threat ofhuman extinction as justifying expensive and futuristic projects by tech billionaires without ethical or safety concerns.[127][128][129]
In the United States, conservatives and Republican politicians frequently allege censorship of their viewpoints and ideas,[130] however, research has not supported the allegation that social media companies are biased against conservative viewpoints.[131] The practice of banninghate speech has also received criticism fromconservatives.[132] Following the2020 United States presidential election, CNN described a "yearslong intimidation campaign led by Republican attorneys general and state and federal lawmakers" to make social media companies "platform falsehoods and hate speech" and thwart those "working to study or limit the spread" of it.[130] According to a February 2021 report byNew York University researchers, conservative claims of social media censorship could be considereddisinformation andfalse. The report also recommended that social media platforms should increase theirtransparency to push back against claims of censorship.[133][134] Republican-introduced bills in many states have allowed for civil lawsuits against social media companies over perceived "censorship" of posts, especially those related to politics or religion.[131] During the2024 United States presidential election,The New York Times described social media as being predominantly right-leaning despite claims of conservative censorship,[135] and thePew Research Center found that more social media influencers leaned conservative (27%) than liberal (21%).[136]
In July 2020, theUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law interviewed the CEOs ofAlphabet,Amazon,Apple, andFacebook. During the hearings, some members ofCongress alleged bias against conservatives on social media.[137]Matt Gaetz protested Amazon's ban on donations tohate groups, stating thatJeff Bezos should "divorce from theSPLC".[138]
On November 5, 2020, PresidentDonald Trump alleged "historic election interference from big money, big media, and big tech". Conservative newspaperThe Washington Times criticized Trump's claims as lacking evidence.[139] During Trump's speech that incited theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack, he accused Big Tech ofrigging the2020 election and promised to "get rid of"Section 230. According to Trump, "They rigged it like they have never rigged an election before, and by the way, last night, they didn't do a bad job either."[140] After Trump's Twitter account was suspended,German ChancellorAngela Merkel's chief spokesmanSteffen Seibert noted that Merkel found Twitter's halt of Trump's account "problematic", adding that legislators, not private companies, should decide on any necessary curbs tofree expression ifhate speechincites violence.[141][142]
Conservatives argued that Facebook and Twitter limiting the spread of theHunter Biden laptop controversy "proves Big Tech's bias".[143][144] In some cases, Big Tech platforms reversed actions perceived as censorship. The YouTube channelRight Wing Watch was banned for showing far-right content to expose extreme views, but the channel was restored after viewer backlash.[145]Human Rights Watch stated that excessive content removal, especially on Facebook, meant losingevidence of human rightsabuses.[146]
Facebook has also been accused of censoring left-wing opinions. Facebook removed ads byDemocratic senatorElizabeth Warren, who advocated breaking up Facebook.[147] Warren accused the company of having the "ability to shut down a debate" and called for "a social media marketplace that isn't dominated by a single censor".[148][149]
In 2025, Meta's Facebook,Elon Musk'sX, Google's YouTube, and other tech companies agreed to address online hate speech by enforcing a revisedcode of conduct aligned withEuropean Commission rules.Henna Virkkunen, the EU tech commissioner, stated that Europe haszero tolerance for hate speech, whether online or offline. She approved the tech companies' commitment to enforcing the code of conduct mandated by theDigital Services Act (DSA).[150]
FollowingRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Facebook was criticized for failing to curbdisinformation.[151] In theFacebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook users were targeted for political propaganda based on their online activity, which Facebookmonitored and shared withoutconsent.[152] In 2019, aSenate Intelligence Committee report criticized Facebook and Twitter for failing to stop the spread ofmisinformation.[153] In response to criticism of their handling of misinformation and disinformation during the2016 election, Big Tech companies cracked down onfake accounts andtrolling.[154][155]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Big Tech was criticized for allowingCOVID-19 misinformation.[156][157] According toRepresentativesFrank Pallone,Mike Doyle, andJan Schakowsky, "Industry self-regulation has failed. We must begin the work of changing incentives driving social media companies to allow and even promote misinformation and disinformation."[158][159] PresidentJoe Biden criticized Facebook for allowinganti-vaccine activism.[160][161]Imran Ahmed, CEO of theCenter for Countering Digital Hate, said, "While they fail to take action, lives are being lost."[162] In response to the criticism, Big Tech companies deleted numerous social media accounts and banned health-relatedfalse advertising.Human Rights Watch has criticized Big Tech, primarily Facebook, for allowing misinformation to spread indeveloping countries.[146]
Big Tech companies have faced political censorship. Chinabanned Google in 2010 because Google refused to censor search results critical of theChinese Communist Party.[163][164]Meta andX have been banned in China since 2009.[164] In India, Facebook and Twitter were accused of censorship during the2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest.[165][166] TheWall Street Journal stated that Facebook only restricted content criticizing the Indian government, even if government supporters postedfalse statements.[167]
In 2021,Alexei Navalny criticizedApple and Google for complying with a Russian government order to ban theSmart Voting app.[163] On February 24, 2022, theRussian invasion of Ukraine began. In March 2022, Russia blocked Facebook and Twitter because of "disinformation" and "fake news".[168] On March 21, 2022, Russia recognized Meta as an "extremist organization", making Meta the first public company recognized asextremist in Russia.[169]Microsoft'sLinkedIn has been blocked in Russia since 2016.[170]
Theenvironmental impact of Big Tech is a phenomenon in which many aspects of Big Tech contribute to negative impacts on the environment andclimate change. In the big data age, technologists and people in general find it valuable to viewemerging technologies with a critical lens, one of which is geared toward the environment. As these emerging technologies become more popular, they consider the extent at which they contribute to changes in the environment and whether they are inherently positive or negative.
A 2022 report fromGreenpeace andStand.earth highlights the technology sector's rapid growth, driving a significant increase in electricity consumption, projected to rise by over 60% between 2020 and 2030. This increase in energy usage is coupled with a rise incarbon emissions attributed to the sector's heavy dependence onfossil fuels. While some Big Tech firms have committed to transitioning to 100%renewable energy for their operations, this commitment has not yet extended to theirsupply chains. Seven out of ten ranked consumer electronics brands have committed to achieve100% renewable energy across their own operations by 2030, withApple,Google, andMicrosoft already achieving this goal.[171] In 2023, Big Tech accounted for approximately 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, surpassing those of the aviation industry.[172] Google and Microsoft each consumed 24 TWh of electricity in 2023, more than countries such as Iceland, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, or Tunisia.[173]On May 9, 2019, theParliament of France passed a law intended to force Big Tech to pay publishers for the reuse of substantial amounts of copyrighted content (related rights). The law is aimed at implementingArticle 15 of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market of the European Union.[174]
In September 2024, theFederal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report summarizing company responses fromAmazon,Facebook,YouTube,Twitter,Snap,ByteDance,Discord,Reddit, andWhatsApp to orders made by the agency pursuant to Section 6(b) of theFederal Trade Commission Act of 1914 to provide information aboutuser and non-user data collection (including of children and teenagers) and data use by the companies that found that the user and non-user data practices of the companies made users and non-users vulnerable toidentity theft,stalking, unlawful discrimination, emotional distress andmental health issues, social stigma, and reputational harm.[175][176][177] Based upon the report's findings, the FTC concluded thatindustry self-regulation hadfailed and recommended that Congress pass a comprehensivedata privacy law.[175][176][177]
In September 2025, theAssociated Press (AP) reported thatleaked internal company documents show that numerous U.S. technology companies have been largely responsible for developing the technology that has enabledmass surveillance,internet censorship, andhuman rights abuses in China (including against theUyghur andTibetan populations) through partnerships withPRC law enforcement, thePRC military, and PRC-owned defense contractors.[178][179] While the companies that the AP'sinvestigation identified as having partnerships with PRC authorities have stated publicly that they have been in full compliance with all laws, sanctions, and export regulations, the AP found that the partnerships were far more extensive than was previously disclosed.[180][181] The companies the AP identified included Microsoft, Nvidia,Amazon Web Services,IBM,Thermo Fisher Scientific,Dell,Cisco,Seagate,Hewlett Packard Enterprise,Oracle,Intel,Motorola,Western Digital,Esri,Broadcom, andVMware.[178][179][180][181]
Concerns overmonopolistic practices have led toantitrust investigations in Big Tech from both United States and European Union regulatory agencies.[182][183][184][185] These investigations have raised concerns around Big Tech onprivacy,market power,freedom of speech,national security, andlaw enforcement.[186] In 2019, John Naughton wrote inThe Guardian, "It's almost impossible to function without the big five tech giants."[187]
UnderUnited States antitrust law, theconsumer welfare standard assumes that large companies are not automatically harmful. Antitrust enforcement generally aims to prevent harm to consumers.[188] According to some policy analysts, Big Techinnovation benefits consumers.[189] Big Tech CEOs have consistently opposed antitrust regulation. Antitrust investigations of Big Tech began in the late 1990s, leading to the first major case against Big Tech in 2001, when theU.S. government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining its monopoly position in thePC market.
Microsoft imposed legal and technical restrictions on PC manufacturers and users preventing them fromuninstallingInternet Explorer and usingNetscape orJava. The district court ruled that Microsoft's actions constituted monopolization under theSherman Antitrust Act, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed most of the district court's judgments. TheDepartment of Justice (DOJ) announced on September 6, 2001 that it would not seek to break up Microsoft, and would instead seek a lesser penalty if Microsoft agreed to share itsAPIs with third-party companies and appoint a three-person panel with access to Microsoft's systems, records, andsource code for five years. On November 1, 2002, Judge Kollar-Kotelly accepted most of the proposed settlement, and on June 30, 2004, the U.S. appeals court unanimously approved the settlement.[190]
In the late 2010s, Big Tech was investigated by the DOJ andFederal Trade Commission (FTC) for anticompetitivemergers and acquisitions. Some Democratic presidential candidates proposed breaking up Big Tech companies or regulating them asutilities. FTC chairmanJoseph Simons said, "The role of technology in the economy and in our lives grows more important every day...As I've noted in the past, it makes sense for us to closely examine technology markets to ensure consumers benefit from free and fair competition."[191][192] In 2017,Elizabeth Warren criticized Big Tech for offering free services to remain more popular than the competition.[193] TheUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law investigated Big Tech in June 2020, and published a report in January 2021 concluding thatAmazon,Apple, Google, andMeta operated in an anticompetitive manner.[194][195]
On June 24, 2021, theUnited States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law held hearings on proposed Big Tech regulations.Pramila Jayapal introduced HR 3825, The Ending Platform Monopolies Act, which passed the committee.[196] The bill proposed prohibitingplatform owners from offering products and services on the platforms they own. For example, in 2010, Amazon attempted to acquire Diapers.com. When Diapers.com rejected Amazon's proposal, Amazon started selling diapers at a loss. Facing unprofitability, Diapers.com agreed to let Amazon buy the company even though Walmart was willing to pay more.[197] The committee voted that the reason for Big Tech monopolies is because of the consumer welfare standard, a legal doctrine stating that if the consumer benefits from corporate actions, those actions are generally legal. FTC chairwomanLina Khan expressed a different view in her publication "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox".
On July 9, 2021, PresidentJoe Biden signedExecutive Order 14036, "Promoting Competition in the American Economy", a sweeping array of initiatives across the executive branch. The order established an executive branch-wide policy to more thoroughly scrutinize mergers involving Big Tech companies, with focus on the acquisition of new, potentially disruptive technology from smaller companies by the larger companies. The order also instructed the FTC to establish rules related to the use of data collection by Big Tech companies for promoting their own services.[198][199] In June 2024, the DOJ and FTC opened an investigation into Microsoft,Nvidia, andOpenAI regarding their dominance inartificial intelligence.[200][201] In August 2024,District of Columbia U.S. District Court JudgeAmit Mehta ruled thatGoogle held a monopoly in online search and text advertising in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[202][203] In April 2025,Eastern Virginia U.S. District Court JudgeLeonie Brinkema ruled thatGoogle held a monopoly in advertising technology in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.[204][205] Google issued press releases in response announcing that the company would appeal the rulings.[202][204]
In June 2020, the European Union opened two investigations intoApple. The first investigation focused on whether Apple usesmarket dominance to stifle competition in music and bookstreaming. The second investigation focused onApple Pay. Apple limits the use of theiPhone'sNFC technology byfinancial institutions, including banks.[206][207]
According to formerEuropean Commissioner for CompetitionMargrethe Vestager,fines are insufficient to deter anticompetitive practices. Vestager stated, "Fines are not doing the trick. And fines are not enough because fines are a punishment for illegal behaviour in the past. What is also in our decision is that you have to change for the future. You have to stop what you're doing."[208]
In September 2021, the United States and European Union began negotiating a joint approach to Big Tech regulation.[209] The European Parliament passed theDigital Markets Act (DMA) in March 2022 to restrict data collection from European users, require social media interoperability, and allow alternativeapp stores and payment systems for Apple and Googlesmartphones.[210][211] The EU also passed theDigital Services Act (DSA) in April 2022, which requires tech companies to take downhate speech andchild sexual abuse, and ban advertising targetinggender,race, religion, and childhood.[212] Both the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act were enacted by the EU in July 2022.[213] The EU defined Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft as "gatekeepers" under the DMA in September 2023, and required them to comply by March 2024.[214] On June 24, 2024, the European Union charged Apple with breaching the Digital Markets Act, potentially resulting in a significant fine. A final decision is expected by March 2025. The EU is also investigating Apple's new terms and fees for app developers, criticizing the company's restrictions and handling of AI-powered features in the EU.[215]
Alt-tech is a collection ofsocial networking services andInternet service providers popular among thealt-right, far-right, and others who espouseextremism orfringe theories, typically because they employ loosercontent moderation than mainstream platforms.[216][217][154] The term "alt-tech" is aportmanteau of "alt-right" and "Big Tech".
Thefediverse is a collection offederated social networking services that cancommunicate with each other even if they are controlled independently. Users of different websites can send and receive status updates andmultimediafiles across thenetwork. The term "fediverse" is a portmanteau of "federation" and "universe".[218]
The so-calledWeb3 (also known as Web 3.0)[219][220][221] is an idea for a new iteration of theWorld Wide Web which incorporates concepts such asdecentralization,blockchain technologies, and token-based economics.[222] Some technologists and journalists have contrasted it withWeb 2.0, in which they claimuser-generated content is controlled by a small group of companies referred to as Big Tech.[223]
Some critics have contrasted Big Tech withstartup culture, which they semi-humorously refer to as Little Tech. Little Tech has attracted attention for technical innovation and encouraging digital wellbeing. Advocates likeAndreessen Horowitz argue that Little Tech is threatened by anticompetitive policies. Little Tech advocates emphasize the importance of investing in startup companies to support technological progress. However, critics differ on the impact of Little Tech and the need for governments to support startup companies. Some critics argue that the Little Tech agenda is a wish list forventure capitalists that seeks preferential treatment for risky investments rather than accelerating innovation. Despite these criticisms, Little Tech companies have demonstrated the ability to solve problems that might be too specific for Big Tech companies to be interested in. Little Tech companies often develop custom solutions for local governments, enhancing public services and promotingdigital transformation. Some Little Tech initiatives aim to educate and empower users, such as by helping teenagers understand technology. Organizations like the American Innovators Network support the Little Tech agenda by offering workshops and consultations.[224][225]
Researchers have not found widespread evidence that social media companies are biased against conservative news, posts or materials.
The fake news and the big tech, big tech, is now coming into their own. We beat them four years ago, we surprised them. We took him by surprise and this year they rigged an election, they rigged it like they have never rigged an election before, and by the way, last night, they didn't do a bad job either, if you notice. I am honest, and I just again, I want to thank you. It's just a great honor to have this kind of crowd and to be before you and hundreds of thousands of American patriots who are committed to the honesty of our elections and the integrity of our glorious Republic.
