SAN FRANCISCO —  On election night time, as Republican Donald Trump inched nearer to reclaiming the U.S. presidency, some tech executives and enterprise capitalists rejoiced.

“The folks of America gave @realDonaldTrump a crystal clear mandate for change tonight,” Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X, previously often called Twitter.

The eccentric billionaire, who shared a Photoshopped picture of himself carrying a sink into the Oval Workplace, has been a vocal supporter of Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to win the White Home.

The 2024 U.S. presidential election has been a wild experience, highlighting a divide between enterprise capitalists and tech executives — a few of whom spent hundreds of thousands of {dollars} backing Trump whereas others poured cash into Harris’ marketing campaign. Either side argued the candidates they assist would profit the tech trade.

Field Chief Government Aaron Levie, who backed Harris and made the case the Democrat is pro-business, congratulated Trump on his win late Tuesday night time. “What’s nice about America is that we’re on a rocket ship proper now and might preserve accelerating with the correct insurance policies and execution,” Levie posted on X.

Musk stands to profit from a second Trump presidency. He runs corporations reminiscent of Tesla and SpaceX that maintain billions of dollars in authorities contracts, however has additionally clashed with regulators. Trump mentioned he would make Musk the pinnacle of a brand new “authorities effectivity fee,” sparking issues about potential conflicts of curiosity. As soon as important of insurance policies that profit electrical automobiles, Trump softened his tone after Musk endorsed him.

Trump‘s and Harris’ campaigns didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Right here’s how a Trump presidency may reshape the tech trade:

Synthetic intelligence

Trump plans to repeal President Biden’s 2023 AI govt order, which goals to make sure companies develop expertise responsibly as a result of he thinks it hinders innovation.

“As a substitute, Republicans assist AI Growth rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing,” in response to a document that outlines insurance policies he helps.

There’ll most likely be some type of AI regulation below Trump, analysts say, however precisely what that may appear like is unclear.

“Understanding what you’re going to be coping with actually issues for the enterprise group,” mentioned Todd O’Boyle, senior director of expertise coverage with the Chamber of Progress, a tech trade advocacy group. “We’re getting into actually uncharted waters.”

Underneath Trump, there might be “rejuvenated curiosity” for state AI regulation, he mentioned.

In California, lawmakers proposed a slew of AI-related payments this yr and O’Boyle expects that may proceed. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 1047, a hotly contested invoice that aimed to require builders of superior AI fashions to undertake security measures.

Trump may make a giant push into AI innovation, analysts say. As the usage of AI within the army rises, Trump’s marketing campaign says he would “spend money on innovative analysis and superior applied sciences” partially to modernize the army, which might profit tech companies reminiscent of Palantir and Anduril Industries.

Palmer Luckey, who based Anduril Industries and helps Trump, urged his followers on X to “Pokemon Go to the polls.” As Trump moved nearer to victory on election night time, Luckey posted a photograph of Pokémon character Ash Ketchum with a tear (apparently of pleasure) streaming down his face.

“In terms of AI, what is going to rule is, if there’s cash to be made, it’ll be supported,” mentioned Olaf Groth, college member at UC Berkeley’s Haas College of Enterprise and chief govt of assume tank Cambrian Futures.

Trump may additionally punish corporations that cross him.

His marketing campaign has mentioned he would move a digital invoice of rights and laws to “drastically restrict the flexibility of huge social media platforms to limit free speech.” Trump, who operates his personal his personal social media platform, Reality Social, has been important of Fb’s mum or dad firm Meta Platforms and Google, accusing them of censoring his speech, allegations they deny.

Citing competitors with China, Trump has proposed imposing tariffs so companies prioritize American suppliers. Previously, tech titans reminiscent of Apple that rely closely on China to fabricate merchandise such because the iPhone and the Apple Watch have managed to get tariffs waived.

O’Boyle mentioned that the tech trade is “tariffs skeptical.”

“Tariffs are a tax on customers,” O’Boyle mentioned. “It’s laborious to see how tariffs are going to deal with the financial challenges within the nation. Tariffs gradual commerce. They create friction to commerce.”

Cryptocurrency

A few of Trump’s vocal supporters embody traders and twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who co-founded cryptocurrency alternate Gemini, and have accused the Biden administration of making an attempt to destroy their trade.

A Trump presidency is a “enormous win for crypto,” mentioned Daniel Ives, a managing director at Wedbush Securities.

The Biden administration has proposed tax reporting requirements for cryptocurrency brokers and issued an govt order in 2022 to crack down on cryptocurrency scams, fraud and theft. The manager order additionally mentions exploring the creation of a digital U.S. greenback.

In his coverage doc, Trump’s marketing campaign signaled he could be extra pleasant towards the cryptocurrency trade and roll again the Biden’s administrations actions. Republicans oppose the creation of a digital U.S. greenback.

“To the extent that the Biden administration was skeptical of fintech and crypto, it’s an affordable guess that the Trump administration will reverse any fintech and crypto skeptical insurance policies that the Biden administration stood up,” O’Boyle mentioned.

Antitrust and TikTok

U.S. regulators have been making an attempt to rein within the energy of tech heavyweights reminiscent of Meta, Amazon and Google, which the U.S. authorities is contemplating breaking apart after a federal choose declared that the search big has an unlawful monopoly on search.

For all his issues concerning the energy of tech corporations, Trump signaled he’s cautious about breaking apart Google. In an October interview moderated by Bloomberg Information, Trump mentioned he would “do one thing” however stopped in need of saying he would break up the search big.

“It’s a really harmful factor as a result of we wish to have nice corporations,” he mentioned. “We don’t need China to have these corporations. Proper now, China is afraid of Google.”

Some tech trade observers count on that Trump will identify a brand new Federal Commerce Fee chair, pushing Lina Khan out of the function.

The earlier Trump administration pushed for Chinese language tech firm ByteDance to promote TikTok because of the U.S. authorities’s safety issues with the favored video app’s ties to China. Trump, who has raised free speech issues about banning TikTok, is likely to be open to permitting the tech platform to remain within the U.S. so it might compete with Google and Meta, analysts say.

“The irony is, although Trump began the TikTok ban narrative, he’s modified his tune considerably and would really assist TikTok throughout the U.S. with restrictions, and any speak of a ban would really dissipate for TikTok,” Ives mentioned.

In a video posted on social media in September, Trump mentioned, “We’re not doing something with TikTok.”


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