Tech Billionaires Fund California Elections
California’s billionaires are reportedly pouring significant cash into state political races. The move is seen as an effort by big tech leaders to gain new allies in Sacramento and shape policy favorable to the industry.
- A primary motivation for this spending is a proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on Californians worth more than $1 billion. Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has contributed $3 million to the California Business Roundtable, a group actively opposing the tax. - Tech leaders are heavily backing San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan's gubernatorial bid as a successor to the largely tech-friendly Governor Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited. Mahan, a moderate Democrat with a background in tech, has received maximum individual campaign donations of $78,400 from figures like Google co-founder Sergey Brin and YCombinator CEO Garry Tan. - The tech industry's focus extends beyond the governor's race to influencing the state legislature. Crypto executive Chris Larsen has launched a super PAC named "Grow California" with an initial $10 million, and he has pledged an additional $30 million to support candidates who align with the tech industry's goals. - A major policy area of focus is the regulation of artificial intelligence. Tech industry groups successfully lobbied against or weakened several AI-related bills in the last legislative session. Governor Newsom vetoed a bill that would have placed restrictions on "companion chatbots" for minors and another that would have required employers to notify workers about the use of automated decision systems in hiring and promotions. - Meta (formerly Facebook) has established its own state-level super PAC, "Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across California," to support candidates who favor less stringent tech and AI regulation. This allows the company to directly fund campaigns that align with its specific policy interests. - This level of political spending by tech companies in California is not unprecedented. In 2020, companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash spent over $200 million to pass Proposition 22, which classified their drivers as independent contractors, exempting the companies from providing employee benefits. - Google's Sergey Brin has also contributed $20 million to a ballot measure committee named "Building a Better California," which is focused on addressing the state's housing crisis through two initiatives. - The increased political spending is happening as Governor Newsom has signed some tech-related legislation, including SB 53, the "Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act," which requires developers of large-scale AI models to produce safety frameworks and report incidents. He also signed a bill requiring social media platforms to display warnings to minors about the potential mental health harms of social media.
