With help from Emily Birnbaum
Programming Note: Well be off this Monday for Presidents Day but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Editors Note:Morning Tech is a free version of POLITICO Pro Technology's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the days biggest stories.Act on the news with POLITICO Pro.
Cracks in the R&D monolith: Tensions within the powerful research lobby poised to reap big benefits in new competitiveness legislation are rising ahead of an impending bill conference.
Tech industry allies with Black, Hispanic groups: Some organizations representing people of color and backed by tech money are resisting Capitol Hills antitrust push.
If it quacks like a duck: Privacy-focused search engine and Google nemesis DuckDuckGo formally enters the D.C. lobbying game.
ITS FRIDAY, FEB. 18. Welcome to Morning Tech! What are everyones long weekend plans? It feels like the first time in a while that less work has lined up with less pandemic lets get out there and do stuff!
Do you have scoops? Tips? Thoughts? Dog pics? Send any and all by email to [emailprotected], or via Twitter DM to @BrendanBordelon. Got an event for our calendar? Send details to [emailprotected]. Anything else? Team info below. And dont forget: Add @MorningTech and @PoliticoPro on Twitter.
RESEARCH LOBBY SPLIT AHEAD OF USICA CONFERENCE: The little-discussed research lobbys academic and industry wings were already at odds over divergent lawmaker plans to overhaul the National Science Foundation. Now, ahead of a conference for the House and Senates competitiveness packages, cracks are emerging among university lobbyists over the expansion of a program meant to fund researchers in rural or overlooked states.
Revamping NSF: Its the primary driver of basic research in the United States, but NSF hasnt historically done much to turn that research into real-world applications. Both the Houses America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521) and the Senates U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S. 1260) would create a new applied-technology directorate at the agency but the Senate, driven in part by competition with China, envisions a more fundamental pivot at NSF to drive research into marketable technologies.
Daro Gil, the director of research at chip-designer IBM and a member of NSFs board of directors, said he prefers the Senates bold set of changes to NSF over the Houses more cautious approach. Though IBM is one company that stands to benefit from a powerful technology directorate at NSF, Gil said Wednesday hes confident the agency can expand aggressively into applied sciences without compromising one iota its core mission.
Academia is pushing back. During a Thursday call with several heads of research at universities across the country convened by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, one of the largest research lobbies in Washington Roger Wakimoto, the head of research at the University of California, Los Angeles, said hed prefer an NSF focused more on challenges, scientific questions that wont necessarily lead right away to workable technologies.
Deborah Altenberg, APLUs head of research policy and government affairs, expressed concern that the Senate bill is too rigid in its list of 10 key technology areas, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing and microchips. There needs to be maximum flexibility, she said.
Squabble over research dollars: Theres also a split within academia on the wisdom of the Senate bills plan to set aside 20 percent of NSFs research dollars for states that have historically received little R&D funding, primarily rural states. The Senate bill puts the program on track to expand nearly tenfold, to just under $2 billion per year but doesnt add any extra research dollars to NSFs overall pot.
The provision was spearheaded last year by Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee. The change is likely to funnel more federal research funding into universities in Mississippi and other rural states, but that money will likely come out of the pockets of research institutions in states like Massachusetts, California and Washington.
There was tension on the APLU call when the rural state funding expansion was discussed. University representatives from states like Kentucky lauded the provision, while Wakimoto of UCLA warned it could cause emerging research institutions in his state to get lost in the shuffle.
BACKED BY TECH MONEY, BLACK & HISPANIC GROUPS JOIN ANTITRUST FIGHT: A slew of groups representing Black and Hispanic-owned businesses are inundating policymakers with arguments contending that antitrust efforts targeting the tech industry will harm communities of color.
But as Emily discovered in her latest for Pros, several of these groups have one thing in common they have financial backing or other ties with many of the largest tech companies.
At least six such groups either receive funding or have close partnerships with Amazon, Google and Facebook parent company Meta. And their messages are being amplified by the tech industry, either directly or through their vast network of lobbyists and trade associations.
Unintended consequences? Industry representatives say their relationships with groups representing people of color stem from a mutual understanding of the adverse consequences the legislative effort to rein in the major tech companies could have on Black and Hispanic people.
Honestly, I dont know that the authors of these bills have fully considered their unintentional impact on communities of color, said Adam Kovacevich, a former Google executive who founded the trade group Chamber of Progress.
Paula Sardinas, a spokesperson for the Seattle-area Washington Build Back Black Alliance, said groups in her coalition make policy decisions that are best for the people. The companies have zero input. (One of the alliances member groups has disclosed receiving at least $200,000 total from Amazon and Facebook).
But some prominent lawmakers, like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), are unmoved by the tech industry's messaging.
In a last-ditch attempt to preserve their corrosive powers, Big Tech is now circulating arguments that antitrust legislation will harm Black communities, said Jeffries, a co-sponsor of House tech antitrust legislation and former whip of the Congressional Black Caucus. I dont buy it, he added.
DUCK, DUCK, ANTITRUST! Search engine DuckDuckGo, which brands itself as a privacy-minded alternative to Google, registered its first lobbyist last week as the rush to pass antitrust legislation speeds up in both chambers and as midterms approach.
For years, DuckDuckGo has agitated against Google in Washington and in Europe, arguing that the tech giant has manipulated the extensions on its Chrome web browser to crush smaller rivals. Now Kate McInnis, DuckDuckGos newly registered lobbyist, says the company plans to help push the antitrust bills across the finish line.
The strategy: McInnis has been working on policy with DuckDuckGo since 2020. At the time, she told Emily, she thought shed spend all her time on privacy policy. But as the legislative debates have shifted, so has the small search engines government affairs strategy. She finally realized she was spending at least 20 percent of her time speaking to lawmakers and staffers, which meant it was time to formally register.
We see there is an opportunity for Congress to pass bills this session, so we are accordingly ramping up our efforts to see where the bills are going, McInnis said. Shes particularly (perhaps unsurprisingly) focused on boosting the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S. 2992), a bill aimed at preventing the biggest tech companies from harming their rivals.
Small businesses: She said DuckDuckGo is particularly focused on knocking down the big tech companies arguments that the legislation could hurt small businesses. Smaller companies like hers are facing a complex landscape: Lawmakers are more willing than ever to listen to them, but Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple are pushing even more aggressively from the other side. The big companies claim that an attempt to rein them in will also harm the small business ecosystem, since small businesses often use the big platforms products to advertise, make sales and otherwise operate.
Last month, DuckDuckGo and dozens of other small tech companies signed onto a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee supporting the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. McInnis said the small- to medium-sized tech companies supporting the legislation are working in concert to tell offices they back changes in the market.
Its definitely a sign that Big Tech is scared, if theyre coming out with these strong messages that these bills would break services consumers love, McInnis said. We see it as the opposite these bills would allow consumers to do what they like on their devices and operating systems.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) rejoins the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation as an honorary co-chair. ... Erica Sackin is the new communications head at Meta for counterterrorism and dangerous organizations and individuals. ... Morten Skroejer is the new senior director for technology competition policy at The Software & Information Industry Association. ... Chuck Cash is the new vice president of federal sales at space data and analytics and space services provider Spire.
ICYMI: POLITICOs Ben Schreckinger braves the Denver nightclub scene to learn everything there is to know about the Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a blockchain tool that proponents claim will change everything.
The dark side of TikTok: The New York Times reports on the harrowing experience of one family whose daughters TikTok stardom brought violence and death to their home.
I see you, Skynet: The Government Accountability Office releases a report on the Pentagons latest efforts to develop AI capabilities.
BILLIONAIRE HARASSMENT! The Wall Street Journal reports lawyers for electric car company Tesla are accusing the Securities and Exchange Commission of harassing Tesla CEO Elon Musk over a 2018 settlement restricting his social media use.
Not a threat, just a thought: An Amazon union-avoidance official told workers in its largest New York City warehouse that things could get worse should they try to unionize, Vices Motherboard reports.
Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Heidi Vogt ([emailprotected]), Konstantin Kakaes ([emailprotected]), Emily Birnbaum ([emailprotected]), Brendan Bordelon ([emailprotected]), John Hendel ([emailprotected]), Rebecca Kern ([emailprotected]) and Leah Nylen ([emailprotected]). Got an event for our calendar? Send details to [emailprotected]. And don't forget: Add @MorningTech and @PoliticoPro on Twitter.
TTYL!
View post:
'Big Research' splits over R&D packages- POLITICO - Politico
- Report Sounds Alarm Over Growing Role of Big Tech in US Military-Industrial Complex - Common Dreams - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech's ad transparency tools especially X's are failing at their jobs, report finds - Mashable - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech Taps AI Agents to Drive Revenue Growth - PYMNTS.com - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- National privacy standard eyed by Congress for data harvested by big tech companies Nebraska Examiner - Nebraska Examiner - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech is on a generative AI hiring spree - Fast Company - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Disruptive Innovation in the Era of Big Tech - HBR.org Daily - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Betting on US Big Tech? Top Earnings Reports to Watch in the Coming Week - FX Empire - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech Earnings Are Just Around the Corner - Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) - Benzinga - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- WATCH LIVE: Will Cain holds panel to discuss Big Tech and Trump trial - Fox News - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Google fires 28 workers in aftermath of protests over big tech deal with Israeli government - The Bakersfield Californian - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech offices are getting smaller and that spells trouble for landlords - Quartz - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Asking Big Tech to police AI is like turning to 'oil companies to solve climate change,' AI researcher says - Fortune - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech Comes to Small Town: A Bitcoin Mining Story in Spur - CoinDesk - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big Tech loses its appetite for office space, adding to landlords woes - Inman - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Google restructure leads to job cuts - Mobile World Live - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- FTC's Lina Khan talks big tech monopolies on The Daily Show - The Ticker - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Digital public infrastructure will drive the future, not big tech: Amitabh Kant - BusinessLine - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big tech is downsizing work space in another blow to office real estate | Mint - Mint - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- UK Plans Talks With Big Tech to Limit Online Harm for Teens - Bloomberg - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Canada to Start Taxing Tech Giants in 2024 Despite US Complaints - Bloomberg - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- US quarterly earnings to feature big growth in tech-related companies - Reuters - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Our View: Big Tech: Google continues to harm news groups for its own profit - Mankato Free Press - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Deepfake victims must punish Big Tech because Congress wont - The Hill - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Big tech kneecaps anyone researching it. The online harms bill needs to remove barriers to analysis - Policy Options - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Global future will not be driven by big tech but by India's DPI: Amitabh Kant - Moneycontrol - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Kids Code bills prompt epic showdown between regulators, activists and big tech firms - Biometric Update - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Tech Firms Retreating From Office Market - The Real Deal - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- UKs antitrust enforcer sounds the alarm over Big Techs grip on GenAI - TechCrunch - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- Time for government to regulate big tech - ACS - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- UK Markets Authority Warns of AI Market Capture by Big Tech - BankInfoSecurity.com - April 18th, 2024 [April 18th, 2024]
- 2023 Boosts Big Techs AI monopoly? Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and others wield money power - HT Tech - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Shows Power of Ads Over Subscriptions - Bloomberg - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Looking Beyond The 'Magnificent 7' Analysts Just Upgraded These Three Large-Cap Stocks - Anheuser-Busch - Benzinga - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Mapping the Biggest Tech Talent Hubs in the U.S. and Canada - Visual Capitalist - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Google, Meta, other tech giants slash DEI-related jobs, resource groups in 2023: Report - Fox Business - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- South Koreas proposed tech regulations would be a gift to China - The Hill - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Outlook 2024: Big changes to expect in personal tech - The Indian Express - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Big Tech Dumped $17 Billion Into AI Companies in 2023 Despite Frozen Market - The Messenger - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Why OpenAI signals the start of the post-Christensen startup world - Tech.eu - January 2nd, 2024 [January 2nd, 2024]
- Opinion | Lindsey Graham and Elizabeth Warren: When It Comes to Big Tech, Enough Is Enough - The New York Times - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Globe editorial: Canada can't tackle Big Tech on its own - The Globe and Mail - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- July jobs report and more Big Tech earnings are in the week ahead after markets notch historic run for Dow - CNBC - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- A Setback in the F.T.C.'s Fight Against Big Tech - The New Yorker - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Be strong in the fight against Big Tech, Canada - Canada's National Observer - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Decoding volatility: Are big tech stocks as stable as we think? - CryptoSlate - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Patients think their health data will be leaked and don't trust big tech ... - Contemporary Pediatrics - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Big Tech Earnings Season - Fagen wasanni - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- The problem with Big Tech's voluntary AI safety commitments - Emerging Tech Brew - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- How the Crypto Market Prepares Ahead of Big Tech Earnings ... - BeInCrypto - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Tony Anscombe: It's Misleading to Ask if Big Tech Wants to Read ... - BroadbandBreakfast.com - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- The Week Ahead: Fed, ECB and BoJ set rates, and Big Tech ... - Financial Times - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- China's Big Tech making a comeback with Beijing offering fresh ... - The Straits Times - July 29th, 2023 [July 29th, 2023]
- Montgomery County school district sues Big Tech over youth mental ... - Washington Times - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Big Tech knows most Brits don't know how to protect their online ... - TechRadar - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- The time for talk is over is time for action on data privacy - The Hill - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Meet the man calling out Big Techs climate hypocrisy - Corporate Knights Magazine - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Letter: UK watchdog's tough stance on Big Tech should reassure MPs - Financial Times - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Peter Thiel on Big Tech: A Throwback Lecture - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence - June 18th, 2023 [June 18th, 2023]
- Big Tech Is Big Tobacco - The Lever - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Graham fires warning shot at Big Tech: Were going to unleash the courtrooms of America on you - Fox News - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Experts weigh the current cost of anticompetitive behavior in Big ... - NYU Law - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Big Tech lobbying on AI regulation as industry races to harness ... - Center for Responsive Politics - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- 'Big Tech is knowingly fueling a mental-health crisis in this country ... - Morningstar - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- EY's Abandoned Split Exposes Obstacles to Big Tech Consulting - Bloomberg Tax - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Apple CEO Tim Cook calls mass layoffs a last resort, as the company avoids the giant job cuts of its Big Tech peers - Yahoo Finance - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Big Tech stocks are flying! Which ones are the best buys today? - Motley Fool UK - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Why Indian start-ups have accused the Internet and Mobile Association of India of spreading Big Tech propaganda - The Indian Express - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Intimate Images Protection Update Big Tech Warned To Be Ready ... - BC INJURY LAW - May 6th, 2023 [May 6th, 2023]
- Apple Stock and Big Tech Are Winners. Why Cathie Wood's ARK Is Still a Loser. - Barron's - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- White House officials will meet Big Tech CEOs as President Biden looks to tackle AI safety concerns - Yahoo Canada Finance - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- The top 10 buzziest companies Gen Z wants to work fornone of them are in Big Tech, says new report - CNBC - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Apple Reports Earnings Today. What to Expect. - Barron's - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Big Tech Earnings: Time to Take Another Bite of Apple? - Yahoo Finance - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Vibe Check: Big Tech Is Losing Its 'Luster' For The Class Of 2023 Amid Mounting Layoffs And An Uncertain Economy - Forbes - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Lindsey Graham says Big Tech will kill online child safety bill, teases plan with Elizabeth Warren - Washington Times - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- 'Break them open' new EU rules coming for Big Tech - TNW - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- EY's Abandoned Split Exposes Obstacles to Big Tech Consulting - Bloomberg Law - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Open Source Communities Need More Than Funding From Big Tech - DevOps.com - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- Night School, Class 3: Big Tech vs the insurgents - Financial Times - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]
- MM View: The Big Tech monster is coming for you - but only if you let it - Money Marketing - May 4th, 2023 [May 4th, 2023]