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Silicon Valley is working behind the scenes to secure high-level roles for its allies in lesser-known but still vital parts of the administration of newly elected US President Joe Biden, at a time of growing criticism of big tech groups and companies. regulators, Reuters reports.
Biden’s transition team has already filled the teams that will review the work of the various agencies with more industry professionals than their critics. The team also recruited several employees from technology companies who emerged as leading donors during the campaign.
Now, executives and employees of technology companies like Google, Amazon.com, Facebook, Microsoft Corp are pushing for their candidates for top government positions. agencies, according to four Reuters sources.
Agencies include the Department of Commerce, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Office of Information and Regulation (a key White House agency that writes policies affecting the technology industry), the Department of State, and the Department of Defense, according to sources.
Many corporate executives who in some cases have helped raise money for Biden’s campaign or who have connections with people on the transition team still have a strong business interest in pushing industry candidates to the Department of Justice and the Federal Commission on Justice. Trade, both investigating whether the tech giants are abusing their market position. But monitoring of these agencies by progressive interest groups and members of Congress is likely to hamper Silicon Valley’s efforts, the sources said.
Of course, there is no formal process by which such names and recommendations are sent from the industry to the transition team.
“Every member of the transition team and the new administration will have values that are consistent with the president-elect and vice president on many issues, including the technology sector,” said team spokesman Cameron French.
Facebook and Microsoft declined to comment. Amazon communications chief Jay Carney told Reuters the company was not trying to integrate its people into the future administration. “Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false,” Carney said.
Google spokesman José Castañeda said that “as a company, we do not make recommendations and we are not aware of this type of communication.”
Looking for influence
Researchers, lawyers and consultants following the transition or working with the team told Reuters the measures were part of efforts by many Big Tech employees to influence future policies. They also want to make sure that the Biden administration is not captivated by the ideas of progressive Democrats and the growing antitrust movement, who constantly push for tighter control over such companies.
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“In 2020, appointing a CEO or senior manager of a technology company directly to your office looks bad and is bad policy,” said Max Moran, a researcher for the Revolving Doors project. He added that Big Tech allies had begun to emerge as candidates for the Biden administration.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, one of Silicon Valley’s titans, has made recommendations for appointments to the Department of Defense as the company tries to land contracts in the military sector, according to three sources.
Schmid is chairman of the National Security Commission for Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI). His commission vice chairman, former undersecretary of defense Robert Wark, briefed Biden’s team on the transition to national security issues. Schmidt’s name has also come up in discussions about who should head a White House tech working group, a proposal that progressive politicians oppose, according to three sources.
One of the people for whom Schmidt sought a high-level position in the Defense Department is Christopher Kirchhoff, a former assistant chief of staff for the Obama administration military personnel who currently works at Schmidt Futures, two sources said. According to two sources, Schmidt insisted that Jared Cohen, chief executive of Jigsaw, a technology incubator that operates as a separate unit at Google, get a key position with either the State Department or the Defense Department. Cohen previously worked at the State Department.
Eric Schmid’s spokesman declined to comment. An NSCAI spokesperson said that any actions by Schmidt and Wark as individuals had nothing to do with NSCAI.
Similarly, two Amazon employees have joined the newly elected president’s teams, who will review the work of the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget.
Amazon executives are now urging their allies to fill positions in the Biden administration, according to sources working with the transition. Indra Nooi, a former Pepsi boss who is now a member of Amazon’s board, has been hired to take over the Commerce Department, three sources said.
Facebook, unlike other companies, has already made a significant contribution to Biden’s transition team, according to numerous sources.
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One of the company’s former directors, Jessica Hertz, is the lead legal counsel for Biden’s transition team. Austin Lynn, a former Facebook program manager, is on a team with the president’s executive office. Erskine Bowles, a former Facebook board member, is already advising the transition team, along with Jeff Zints, another former Facebook board member, who has now been selected to be Biden’s coronavirus coordinator.
Another ally of some of the major tech companies is Biden’s pick of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who has ties to Amazon and Google, according to four sources. Google was a client of WestExec Advisors, which was founded by Blinken.It also helped Amazon communications chief Jay Carney get hired on Joe Biden’s media team in 2008.
Google’s Castaneda said the company’s relationship with WestExec lasted for a month in 2018 and that the company has not retained a single member of the company. Carney declined to comment. WestExec Advisors declined to comment. Blinken did not respond to requests for comment.
Four sources said the names offered by the tech companies were discussed during meetings held by various Biden teams. These teams have made several hiring recommendations, they said.
Greater resistance
While Silicon Valley wants to take up more space at the table, the resistance from progressive groups is remarkable.
In November, 32 antitrust, political, labor and related groups sent a letter to Biden asking him to reject the influence of big tech companies in his administration.
Many of these groups are now uniting and trying to clamp down on their policies. For example, several of the 32 are part of a new coalition that aims to expand the number of groups that monitor the industry’s impact on government. Alex Harman, who monitors monopolies for Public Citizen, an advocacy group that is part of the coalition, said he had met with Biden’s transition teams with a clear goal: to make sure the administration didn’t make such appointments.
The Biden teams are listening to our concerns, but there is not much dialogue, he added. “They don’t tell us what they think, they just ask us what our priorities are.”
