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THE UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE HARKER SCHOOL VOL. 26 NO. 4
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FRIDAY, FEB. 7, 2025
TECH TURNOVER Silicon Valley’s biggest players, like Tesla, Amazon and Meta, all turned to endorse Trump following his presidential victory. “In a world where we give whoever is
in power broad powers to dramatically change the regulatory environment, whoever is large and is able to curry favor will have an advantage,” economics teacher Matt McCorkle said.
victor gong, claire zhao & lily peng
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esla, Meta, Amazon, Google, OpenAI. Major tech companies’ donations flooded Trump’s committee in the weeks leading up to his inauguration, totaling to a record-breaking $200 million. With a new administration on the horizon, Silicon Valley leaders are capitalizing on the opportunity to create profit. Tesla founder Elon Musk spent over $277 million backing Trump’s campaign, making him the largest donor in the 2024 election cycle. Other prominent tech figures like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg who previously condemned Trump, have now changed course to endorse him. “In recent times, DC has frowned upon big tech,” economics teacher Dean Lizardo said. “You often see folks like Zuckerberg or even the TikTok CEO being questioned about how our data is being used, but Trump has run his platform in the context of deregulation. So one could make the argument that if big tech sides with Trump, he’ll look on
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them favorably in terms of regulations.” Only a few weeks into Trump’s presidency, the tech industry is already witnessing the potential rewards in supporting him. Trump recetnly announced a $500 billion joint venture called Stargate, which would fuel AI innovation in the U.S. through a new partnership between OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. This initiative would help OpenAI stay ahead of foreign competition like DeepSeek, which recently released a chatbot challenging ChatGPT, and cement their dominant position in the domestic AI sector. “In a world where we give whoever is in power broad powers to dramatically change the regulatory environment or the enforcement of those regulations, whoever is large and is able to curry favor will have an advantage,” economics teacher Matt McCorkle said. “It is now as it always has been, so I don’t see this as a particular change from that norm.” Generally, the growth of large tech companies creates new jobs as markets expand and opportunities arise with innovation. Especially in an area as dynamic as Silicon Valley, this would
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spur economic activity and drive up employment amidst a period marked by frequent layoffs. On the other hand, looser AI regulations in the workplace under the Trump administration could also contribute an opposite effect as automation replaces human labor.
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Social media is the fifth estate. We need to continue to be aware, have media literacy and be able to vet sources.”
CAROL GREEN CIVICS TEACHER
“You could look at it in one way where if the company has more money, they’re going to start up more projects which is going to create more jobs,” Oeconomia officer Leana Zhou (11) said. “But at the same time, for things like Stargate, they’re trying to improve efficiency. When it’s easier to do something, less workers need
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to be hired to do the same thing.” Beyond larger economic effects, Silicon Valley’s alignment with Trump could also impact consumer rights in digital spaces. Without the necessary restrictions, companies like Meta gain more leeway in handling user data, which may raise privacy concerns. Many tech companies backing Trump also control major social media platforms like Facebook, X and Instagram, and changes to their algorithms could lead to political censorship with greater content filtering. Civics teacher Carol Green teaches her students about similar conflicts of interests. With an increasing reliance on social media as a news source, she reflects on the political influence that these platforms now hold. “Social media really is the fifth estate,” Green said. “They need to make sure that they don’t lose protections that allow their company to be profitable, but at the same time they’re seeing implications that deal directly with what people know to be true about their government. My biggest concern is that we need to continue to be aware, have media literacy and be able to vet sources.”
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CLAIRE ZHAO
Trump takes Silicon Valley by storm