Biden’s Alliance with Big Tech Shows a Power Shift
The combative post-Snowden relationship with government appears to have mellowed at a meeting last week. Should we be worried about what they might all do together?
The uninvited.
Photographer: Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images EuropeIt would normally be awkward asking a group of companies worth more than $4 trillion for help. But the leaders of Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google sat up and listened when President Joe Biden sought their cooperation last week in protecting U.S. infrastructure from cyber threats. They weren’t just being polite.
Three of the firms have faced lawsuits or probes from both the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department. They need to maintain cordial relations with the U.S. government. Biden probably didn’t bring that up during his discussions with Apple’s Tim Cook or Google’s Sundar Pichai at the White House cyber security summit on Aug. 25, but the cases will have hung in the air like an unpleasant smell. Detected by all and never remarked on.