Big Tech, also known as theTech Giants orTech Titans,[1] is a grouping of the largestIT companies in the world. The concept of Big Tech is similar to the grouping ofdominant companies in othersectors likeBig Oil,Big Media, etc.[2] It typically refers to the Big Five United States tech companies:Alphabet,Amazon,Apple,Meta, andMicrosoft;[3][4][5] or the Magnificent Seven, which includesNvidia andTesla.[6][7][8] Big Tech can also include Chinese companies such asBaidu,Alibaba,Tencent, andXiaomi (BATX).
In the 20th century,IBM andMicrosoft dominated the IT industry.[9] 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 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.[10] 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.[2] 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] In the early 2020s,software developers andcryptocurrency users responded to the perceived excesses of the tech giants by starting a movement calledweb3[12][13][14] to incorporateblockchain-baseddecentralization into theWorld Wide Web.[15]
Alphabet is the parent company ofGoogle. As of 2024[update], Google is the leader inonline advertising (Google Ads),online 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).Google Cloud Platform is the third most popularcloud computing platform afterAmazon Web Services andMicrosoft Azure. Google and Meta have been called adigital advertisingduopoly.[16] Google earns 82% of its revenue and most of its profit from advertising.[17]
In addition to its Google products, Alphabet is a global leader inartificial intelligence,quantum computing, andself-driving cars. In 2019, Google claimed itsSycamore processor had achievedquantum supremacy.[18] In 2021, Alphabet's subsidiaryWaymo was the first company to offer publicrobotaxi service.[19] Alphabet reached $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time in January 2020.[20][21]
WithAmazon Alexa andAmazon Echo,Amazon is the leader in the area ofartificial intelligence-basedpersonal digital assistants andsmart speakers (Amazon Echo) with 69% market share followed by Google (Google Nest) at 25% market share.Amazon Web Services made up 59% of Amazon's profit in 2020,[22] and more than half of the company's profit every year since 2014.[23] AfterAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) was released in 2006, Google developedGoogle App Engine (nowGoogle Cloud Platform) and Microsoft developed Windows Azure (nowMicrosoft Azure).[24]
After crossing $1 trillion during trading hours once in September 2018 and again in January 2020,[25][26] Amazon closed above $1 trillion for the first time in April 2020.[27] In November 2022, Amazon fell below $1 trillion for the first time since 2020,[28] part of a 51% decline from $1.7 trillion at the beginning of 2022 to $834 billion at the end of the year.[29] By May 2023, Amazon stock was again worth more than $1 trillion.[30] In June 2024, Amazon crossed $2 trillion in market capitalization.[31]
Apple sellsconsumer electronics, includinglaptops,smartphones, andsmartwatches. Apple shares aduopoly with Google inmobile operating systems, with Apple'siOS controlling 27% market share and Google'sAndroid controlling 72%.[32][33]
In August 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company in history to reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion.[34][35] In August 2020, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company in history to reach a market capitalization of $2 trillion.[36] In January 2022, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company in history to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion.[37] In January 2023, Apple fell below $2 trillion.[38] Apple closed above $3 trillion for the first time in June 2023 and closed above $3 trillion again in December 2023.[39][40]
Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook)[41] owns the Facebooksocial networking service, theInstagramimage sharing service, and theWhatsAppinstant messaging service. Facebook also acquiredOculus in 2014, entering thevirtual reality market.[42]
Microsoft controls the majority of market share indesktopoperating systems (Microsoft Windows),[43]productivity software (Microsoft Office andMicrosoft 365),[44] andbusiness communication software (Microsoft Teams).[45] Microsoft owns the second biggestcloud computing platform (Microsoft Azure)[46] afterAmazon Web Services. Microsoft is also one of the biggest companies in the video game industry (Microsoft Gaming).
In April 2019, Microsoft reached $1 trillion in market capitalization for the first time.[47] In June 2021, Microsoft crossed $2 trillion for the first time,[48][49] and in October 2021 briefly surpassed Apple as the most valuable company in the world before finishing the year second to Apple at $2.5 trillion.[50][51] After its stock fell during most of 2022,[52] Microsoft finished the year below $2 trillion.[53] By May 2023, Microsoft stock was again worth more than $2 trillion.[30] In January 2024, Microsoft briefly surpassed Apple as the most valuable U.S. company,[54] and crossed $3 trillion during trading hours.[55]
Nvidia is asoftware andfabless company which designs and suppliesgraphics processing units (GPUs),application programming interfaces (APIs) fordata science andhigh-performance computing, as well assystem on a chip units (SoCs) for themobile computing and automotive market. Nvidia is also adominant supplier ofartificial intelligence (AI) hardware and software.[56][57][58] In the early 2020s, Nvidia became the leading producer of AI chips, drastically increasing its capitalization.[59] Nvidia crossed $1 trillion in market capitalization by May 2023,[60] and by the end of 2024, had surpassed Amazon and Alphabet while vying with Microsoft and Apple for the most valuable publicly-traded U.S. company.[61][62][63]
Tesla's classification as a tech company has been debated. In 2022,Fortune included Tesla in Big Tech, andThe Washington Post argued that Tesla vehicles are comparable toiPhones.[64][65]Business Insider argued that Tesla should be classified as anautomaker.[66]Barron's argued that Tesla is a tech company, but not a good one due to differences in theIT and automotive markets.[67]The Wall Street Journal raised concerns about thesupply chain, thesemiconductor shortage, and the price ofelectric vehicle batteries.[68] In October 2021, Tesla crossed $1 trillion in market capitalization.[69][70] During the2022 stock market decline, Tesla stock fell 73% from $1.3 trillion in November 2021 to $495 billion at the end of 2022, including a 40% drop in December 2022 alone.[71][72][73] In response to the stock price declining over twice as much as theNasdaq Composite index, Tesla CEO Elon Musk advised employees not to be bothered by the "stock market craziness".[74] In November 2024, Tesla recrossed $1 trillion in market capitalization.[75]
| Company | Revenue (USD)[76] | Profit (USD) | Subsidiaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBM | 60 billion | 2 billion | Red Hat |
| Tesla | 81 billion | 12 billion | — |
| Oracle | 50 billion | 8 billion | Cerner |
| Netflix | 31 billion | 5 billion | — |
| Nvidia | 27 billion | 4 billion | — |
| Salesforce | 31 billion | 0.2 billion | Tableau Slack |
| Adobe | 17 billion | 5 billion | — |
Smaller companies likeAdobe,IBM,Netflix,Oracle,Salesforce,Snap,Uber, andX are sometimes referred to as Big Tech due to their popular influence.[77][78]
Two Chinese tech companies,Alibaba andTencent, were among the top ten most valuable public companies worldwide at the end of the 2010s. Smyrnaios argued in 2016 that the Asian tech giantsSamsung, Alibaba,Baidu, and Tencent could be included in the definition of Big Tech.[79]TikTok developerByteDance anddrone manufacturerDJI have also been called Big Tech.[80][81]
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.[82][83][84] They were known as GAFA before Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021.[85]Eric Schmidt,Phil Simon, andScott Galloway grouped the Big Four together based on their ability to createsocial change. They serve billions of users,[86] and are able to influence user behavior and control large amounts of user data.[10] As such, they have been criticized for creating a new economic order calledsurveillance capitalism.[87] According to Simon and Galloway, this distinguishes them from other Big Tech companies such asMicrosoft andIBM.[88][89]
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."[90][91] 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.[92][93][50]
| Company | Revenue (USD)[94] | Profit (USD) | Subsidiaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | $283 billion | $60 billion | Google GV Waymo X |
| Amazon | $514 billion | $-3 billion | Audible Twitch Whole Foods |
| Apple | $394 billion | $99 billion | Beats |
| Meta | $116 billion | $23 billion | Facebook Reality Labs |
| Microsoft | $212 billion | $73 billion | GitHub Skype |
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, andMicrosoft are known as the Big Five tech companies.[92][95][96][97][98] They were known as GAFAM before Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021.[85] They are among themost valuable public companies.[99][100] In 2020, the Big Five ranked as the second through sixth most valuable public companies in the world, behindSaudi Aramco.[99] 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.[101] The Big Five are among the most prestigious employers in the world.[102][103][104]
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.[105] In 2017, the Big Five had a combined value of over $3.3 trillion, and made up almost half of theNasdaq-100.[32]
A larger group called the Magnificent Seven addsNvidia andTesla to the Big Five based on their contributions to the S&P 500 since 2022. In 2023, the Magnificent Seven were responsible for almost two-thirds of the S&P 500's 24% increase.[106] The group had a 107%return on investment, which analysts credited to theAI boom andFederal Reserverate cut expectations.[107][108] In January 2024, the group accounted for 29% of the S&P 500's market capitalization.[109] In February 2024, as the Magnificent Seven approached an unprecedented combined valuation of $13 trillion,[110]Deutsche Bank noted that the Magnificent Seven would constitute the second largeststock market in the world as their combinedmarket capitalization exceeded the combined value of every public company in everyG20 country except China, Japan, and the United States as a whole.[107] At the end of the second quarter of 2024,Morgan Stanley estimated that the Magnificent Seven accounted for 31% of the market capitalization of the S&P 500.[111] Some analysts expressed concern that extreme concentration could cause astock market crash similar to thedot-com bubble or even theWall Street Crash of 1929.[107] Others believe the Magnificent Seven can continue to outperform other stocks as capital flows intoindex funds.[106] On August 5, 2024, the Magnificent Seven companies lost a combined $1 trillion in market capitalization at the start of trading hours.[112]
Acronyms such as FANG, FAANG, GAFA, GAFAM, MAMAA, GAMMA, and others have been used to refer to Big Tech companies.[113]Alphabet, the parent company of Google, may be represented by G in these acronyms, andMeta, the rebranding of Facebook, may be represented by F.[93]
The acronym FANG was coined in 2013 byJim Cramer, the television host ofCNBC'sMad Money, to refer to Facebook,Amazon,Netflix, and Google. Cramer called these companies "totally dominant in their markets".[114] Cramer stated that the four companies were poised to "take a bite out of" thebear market, giving a double meaning to the acronym, according to Cramer's colleague at RealMoney.com, Bob Lang.[114][115][116] Cramer expanded FANG to FAANG in 2017, addingApple to the list because its revenue made it a potentialFortune 50 company.[117]
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.[93] 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.[118]
At the international level Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent andXiaomi, referred to asBATX, are often seen as Chinese competitors to Big Tech.Futurist Amy Webb has called the combination of the Big Five,IBM, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent "G-MAFIA BAT".[119]
Nikos Smyrnaios argued in 2016 that four phenomena allowed Big Tech to emerge:technological convergence,deregulation,globalization, andfinancialization.[79] 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.[79] Without regulation, Big Tech earned big profits: in 2014, Google, Apple, and Facebook earned over 20 percent profit margins.[79]
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".[120][121] Without the legal requirement forcontent moderation, online services could innovate freely and achieved rapid growth in the early days of the Internet.[122]
According toAlexis Madrigal, the innovation that initially characterizedSilicon Valley has been replaced by a strategy of growth through acquisitions.[123] For example, Apple started in 1976 as an engineering-focusedstartup company, and quickly claimed market share from less innovative competitors likeXerox.[123] 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.[124][125] However, large companies tend to focus onoperational efficiency instead ofnew product development.[123]
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.[126] On the other hand, Wu stated that Microsoft's concentration of market power created a platform for new kinds of innovation.[127]
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."[128]
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.[129][130]
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.[79] For example, Google and Microsoft pay for their search engines to be included with Apple'siPhone.[131] According toThe Economist, "Network andscale effects mean that size begets size, whiledata can act as a barrier to entry."[132]
The 2020 Americandocudrama filmThe Social Dilemma argues thatcapitalism is the root cause of Big Tech's harmful practices.[133]
According toThe Globe and Mail, both left-wing and right-wing politicians have criticized Big Tech.[134]Progressives have alleged "runaway profit-taking and concentration of wealth", andconservatives have alleged "liberal bias".[134] 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."[135] According toThe Hill,libertarians oppose government regulation of Big Tech due to their support forlaissez-faire economics.[136]
Scott Galloway said Big Tech companies "avoid taxes, invade privacy, and destroy jobs".[137] Nikos Smyrnaios described Big Tech as an oligopoly that dominates the information technology market throughanti-competitive practices, ever-increasing economic power, and intellectual property.[79] 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.[79]
The practice of banninghate speech has received criticism fromconservatives.[138] 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.[139]Matt Gaetz protested Amazon's ban on donations tohate groups, stating thatJeff Bezos should "divorce from theSPLC".[140]
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.[141] 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."[142] 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.[143][144]
According to a February 2021 report byNew York University researchers, conservative claims of social media censorship could be considereddisinformation because the deleted statements werefalse. The report also recommended that social media platforms should increase theirtransparency to push back against claims of censorship.[145][146] Conservatives argued that Facebook and Twitter limiting the spread of theHunter Biden laptop controversy "proves Big Tech's bias".[147][148] 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.[149]Human Rights Watch stated that excessive content removal, especially on Facebook, meant losingevidence of human rightsabuses.[150]
Facebook has also been accused of censoring left-wing opinions. Facebook removed ads byDemocratic senatorElizabeth Warren, who advocated breaking up Facebook.[151] 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".[152][153]
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).[154]
FollowingRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections, Facebook was criticized for failing to curbdisinformation.[155] In theFacebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook users were targeted for political propaganda based on their online activity, which Facebookmonitored and shared withoutconsent.[156] In 2019, aSenate Intelligence Committee report criticized Facebook and Twitter for failing to stop the spread ofmisinformation.[157] In response to criticism of their handling of misinformation and disinformation during the2016 election, Big Tech companies cracked down onfake accounts andtrolling.[158][159]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Big Tech was criticized for allowingCOVID-19 misinformation.[160][161] 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."[162][163] PresidentJoe Biden criticized Facebook for allowinganti-vaccine activism.[164][165]Imran Ahmed, CEO of theCenter for Countering Digital Hate, said, "While they fail to take action, lives are being lost."[166] 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.[150]
Big Tech companies have faced political censorship. Chinabanned Google in 2010 because Google refused to censor search results critical of theChinese Communist Party.[167][168]Meta andX have been banned in China since 2009.[168] In India, Facebook and Twitter were accused of censorship during the2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest.[169][170] TheWall Street Journal stated that Facebook only restricted content criticizing the Indian government, even if government supporters postedfalse statements.[171]
In 2021,Alexei Navalny criticizedApple and Google for complying with a Russian government order to ban theSmart Voting app.[167] On February 24, 2022, theRussian invasion of Ukraine began. In March 2022, Russia blocked Facebook and Twitter because of "disinformation" and "fake news".[172] On March 21, 2022, Russia recognized Meta as an "extremist organization", making Meta the first public company recognized asextremist in Russia.[173]Microsoft'sLinkedIn has been blocked in Russia since 2016.[174]
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 view emerging 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.[175] In 2023, Big Tech accounted for approximately 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, surpassing those of the aviation industry.[176] Google and Microsoft each consumed 24 TWh of electricity in 2023, more than countries such as Iceland, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, or Tunisia.[177]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.[178]
Concerns overmonopolistic practices have led toantitrust investigations in Big Tech from both United States and European Union regulatory agencies.[179][180][181][182] These investigations have raised concerns around Big Tech onprivacy,market power,freedom of speech,national security, andlaw enforcement.[183] In 2019, John Naughton wrote inThe Guardian, "It's almost impossible to function without the big five tech giants."[184]
UnderUnited States antitrust law, theconsumer welfare standard assumes that large companies are not automatically harmful. Antitrust enforcement generally aims to prevent harm to consumers.[185] According to some policy analysts, Big Techinnovation benefits consumers.[186] 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.[187]
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."[188][189] In 2017,Elizabeth Warren criticized Big Tech for offering free services to remain more popular than the competition.[190] 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.[191][192]
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.[193] 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.[194] 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.[195][196] In June 2024, the DOJ and FTC opened an investigation into Microsoft,Nvidia, andOpenAI regarding their dominance inartificial intelligence.[197][198] 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.[199][200]
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.[201][202]
According toEuropean 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."[203]
In September 2021, the United States and European Union began negotiating a joint approach to Big Tech regulation.[204] 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.[205][206] 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.[207] Both the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act were enacted by the EU in July 2022.[208] 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.[209] 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.[210]
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.[211][212][158] 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".[213]
Web3 (also known as Web 3.0)[12][13][14] is an idea for a new iteration of theWorld Wide Web which incorporates concepts such asdecentralization,blockchain technologies, and token-based economics.[15] 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.[214]
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.
