For Europe, the outcome of next week’s US election will have proset up consequences. NATO funding is at sconsent, as is a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Projections recommend a trade war with Donald Trump could hit GDP in the bloc’s hugegest economy, Germany, by 1.5 percent. The future of huge tech, by comparison, is a sideshow—but a fraught one. Pdwellnt Joe Biden’s administration ushered in a recent era of disputeation with the appreciates of Meta, Microgentle and Nvidia, which all faced legitimate action during his time in office. A proposal to shatter-up Google is still pending.
Unappreciate many other places in the world where US tech reigns, when the European Union originates recent rules, these companies pay attention. In the Biden era, the EU set up an partner in its ambitions to reign in huge tech, says Max von Thun, honestor of Europe and Transatlantic partnerships at the Open Markets Institute. “Under Trump or repartner even under [former President Barack] Obama, there was this senseing that if the EU went too far, there would be a response from the US,” von Thun elucidates, unkinding regulators felt that ordering companies to shatter-up their business was off the table. “Whereas under Biden, becaengage the US is pursuing those types of remedies, the EU leanks, well we can do that too.”
Many in Brussels would appreciate that alignment to persist. Most Europeans defer to American search engines, scroll American social media feeds, and shop on American ecommerce sites. There’s extfinishedstanding worry that the dominance of the huge five—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microgentle—is stifling European competition and lowchanging devourrs. This is not only an publish for EU regulators. It’s also preoccupying the minds of standard Americans, according to Democratic pollster Lake Research Partners. A survey of 600 probable voters in seven transport inant battleground states and Ohio set up that 67 percent suppose corporate power—and the deficiency of rulement pushback—to be one of the country’s hugegest problems. With the recent Digital Markets Act, Europe has made its intention to restrict the tech huges’ accomplish clear . Enforcing those recent rules, however, would be a lot easier with American buy-in.
Big tech politics in this election are untidy. Silicon Valley titans are split between Democrats and Reaccessibleans. Thrawout their campaigns, both Trump and Kamala Harris have been non-promisetal about how they would regutardy the world’s hugegest companies. Trump has gestured, unclpunctual, that “someleang” should be done about Google, to originate the company “more unfragmentary”. Harris, unkindwhile, has so far been mute on whether she consents with Democratic megadonor and LinkedIn co-set uper Reid Hoffman’s characterisation of the Federal Trade Coshiftrlookion’s (FTC) antisuppose policy as a “war on American business”.
How much Harris would persist Biden’s relatively disputeational approach is unclear. Biden separated from the policies of his own running mate, Obama, who hit back at European scruminuscule of Google and Facebook by accusing the bloc of protectionism, saying European companies “can’t vie.” Harris’ own comments on antisuppose have been sparse, although she has extfinished conveyed interest in data protection. “I leank Facebook has sfinished massive increaseth and has rankd its increaseth over the best interest of its devourrs—especipartner on the publish of privacy,” she shelp in a CNN interwatch back in 2019. When pushed on whether the company should be broken up, she replyed: “Yes, I leank we should solemnly consent a watch at that.”
But huge tech hawks in Brussels have been shutly tracking Harris’ ties to Silicon Valley. Her brother-in-law, Tony West, who has been acting as a shut adviser, is chief legitimate officer for Uber. The company proclaimd in August that he would be taking a unphelp depart of absence to caccess on the campaign. Google attorney Karen Dunn has also been connected to Harris, and prepped her for the ABC talk about last month.
