Apple, OpenAI, and Others Donate $1 Million
Donations Raise Hopes for Ending Reverse Discrimination and Regulations
Meta and Amazon, Former Rivals in 1st Term, Also Court Trump
Google joined the enthusiastic donation parade of big tech companies ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States. While big tech companies maintained an uneasy relationship during Trump's first term, they are now rapidly lining up in the second term, betting their lives on improving relations with the White House amid expectations of resolving reverse discrimination and easing regulations.
According to US CNBC and political media outlet Politico on the 9th (local time), Google donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration.
Google stated, "We are pleased to support the 2025 inauguration through YouTube live streaming and homepage link provision," adding, "Google will also donate to the inauguration committee."
The donation parade among big tech companies is particularly noticeable ahead of Trump's second term inauguration. Previously, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Amazon, OpenAI, and Apple also decided to donate $1 million each to Trump's inauguration. There is an interpretation that big tech companies, which suffered various pressures due to uncooperative measures during Trump's first term, are now reluctantly taking a 'pro-Trump' stance in the second term. Additionally, with Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, rising rapidly as a close aide to Trump, known as the 'First Buddy,' it is analyzed that marginalized Silicon Valley figures are anxious about reverse discrimination.
In the case of Google, which decided to donate to Trump's inauguration, it is currently embroiled in two large-scale antitrust lawsuits. Following the already lost search market monopoly lawsuit, Google is now facing an ongoing lawsuit over advertising market monopoly. Especially regarding the search market monopoly issue, depending on the court ruling, Google may be forced to divest its web browser, Chrome, putting it at risk of corporate breakup for the first time in 40 years in US history. Trump has not ruled out the possibility of enforcing antitrust laws against Google. Last month, on his social networking service (SNS) 'Truth Social,' which he created, he criticized, "Big tech suppresses competition in the most innovative sectors and uses market dominance to oppress the rights of many Americans and 'little tech'."
Among the big tech giants, the most dramatic turnaround was made by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. On the 7th, he announced the abolition of Facebook's 'fact-check' feature, which Trump had regarded as a 'thorn in his side.' This feature limited the exposure of posts judged to be false, intended to filter out fake news, but it had been criticized for excessively suppressing conservative opinions. Trump praised Zuckerberg's decision as a "great decision." Zuckerberg, who leans pro-Democrat, had maintained a hostile relationship with Trump after suspending Trump's Facebook account for two years following the January 6 Capitol riot by Trump supporters who rejected the 2020 election results.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is also trying to win Trump's favor. On the 5th, Amazon announced it would produce a documentary film about the life of Melania Trump, Trump's wife. During Trump's first term, Bezos faced backlash from Trump for allegedly paying less tax after critical articles were published through the Washington Post (WP), which he owns. Recently, a cartoonist resigned after WP refused to publish a cartoon criticizing Bezos's turnaround.
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