Democratic Senators Accuse Tech Giants of Currying Favor by Showering Trump’s Inaugural Fund With Cash

Two Democratic senators are accusing tech giants of trying to “influence and sway the actions and policies of the incoming administration” by donating millions of dollars to President Trump’s inauguration fund. In response, some of those tech titans are remarking that they never got similarly stern letters when they donated to Democrats in the past. Senator Warren and Senator Bennet, two members of the tax-writing Finance Committee, first raised their concerns about the donations in a letter to OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, a longtime Democratic donor who this year personally gave $1 million of his own money to Mr. Trump’s inauguration fund. “Big Tech companies have come under increased scrutiny from federal regulators for antitrust violations, violations of privacy, and harms to workers, consumers, and competition,” the senators wrote. “We are concerned that your company and other Big Tech donors are using your massive contributions to the inaugural fund to cozy up to the incoming Trump administration in an effort to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation, and buy favor.”“Funny, they never sent me one of these for contributing to democrats,” Mr. Altman wrote on X in response to the letter. Mr. Altman is just one Silicon Valley titan who is personally giving money to the inauguration fund. The chief executive of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, and the chief executive of Apple, Tim Cook, have also given $1 million of their own money to support Monday’s inaugural activities. Companies, too, are showering Mr. Trump’s swearing-in celebrations with cash. Amazon is giving $1 million after donating just more than $50,000 to Mr. Trump’s 2017 inauguration, and just more than $250,000 to President Biden’s inauguration ceremony. Google — which donated $285,000 to the 2017 inauguration and just over $337,000 to the 2021 inauguration — is giving $1 million to Mr. Trump this time around. Microsoft gave $500,000 to both Mr. Trump’s first inauguration and Mr. Biden’s inauguration, though they have given $1 million to the 2025 inauguration fund. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has already given $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration fund via his company, after not giving a penny to any past inauguration funds. Some of Mr. Trump’s closest allies and supporters don’t necessarily see these tech leaders as true converts to the movement, but rather businessmen who are just trying to survive in Mr. Trump’s political landscape. The president-elect’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, compared men like Messrs. Altman and Zuckerberg to military leaders who have issued full surrenders. “I look at this, and I think most people at our movement look at this, as: President Trump broke the oligarchs. He broke them, and they surrendered,” Mr. Bannon told ABC News on Saturday. “I view this as September of 1945 on the [USS] Missouri. You have the Imperial high command, and [Trump] is like Douglass MacArthur,” Mr. Bannon added, comparing tech giants to the defeated Japanese Empire. In their letter, Ms. Warren and Mr. Bennet asked Mr. Altman to provide answers to a number of questions aimed not only at him, but at all the tech leaders who are suddenly coming around to the Trump presidency.“It is critical that federal regulators continue to evenhandedly apply competition, consumer protection, anti-discrimination laws and any other rule or law that applies to your company, But the industry’s efforts suggest that Big Tech companies are trying to curry favor and skirt the rules,” the senators write.

Democratic Senators Accuse Tech Giants of Currying Favor by Showering Trump’s Inaugural Fund With Cash

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