The Technology 202: Two Republicans with deep tech ties get screen time at the Democratic convention

Their inclusion underscores how Biden’s campaign is stretching to appeal to a broad coalition. 

It’s notable that these industry players were included on the lineup the same night as Bernie Sanders, a Democratic socialist who railed against corporate greed and called to break up big tech companies during his own presidential bid. It was part of a wider effort last night to show that Biden could appeal to liberals in the party, as well as independents and Republicans who have lost faith in Trump. 

It was also notable that Molinari and Whitman’s appearances, right before remarks from former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, were about their ties to the Republican Party and made no of the antitrust and privacy issues that put Big Tech in the crosshairs of Democrats in Washington. Silicon Valley was entirely absent from the agenda as the party kept the focus on racial justice and the coronavirus pandemic. Molinari, who didn’t mention her experience with Google, served in Congress representing New York, and Whitman ran for governor in California and held senior roles in Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns. 

It remains to be seen how the Biden campaign will talk about tech issues in the coming weeks, especially now that Biden has selected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his running mate. Harris has deep ties to Silicon Valley, and has focused on the need to create stronger privacy protections for consumers. The party’s platform included a commitment to update the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, previously proposed by the Obama administration, and to work with Congress to pass it into law. 

Luther Lowe, a senior vice president of public policy at Yelp and frequent critic of Google, said: 

Roger McNamee, a tech investor who wrote the book “Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe”:

But McNamee tells me he remains hopeful that a potential Biden administration would crack down on the companies. 

“The constituencies that got Biden the nomination – women and Blacks, in particular – are the primary victims of internet platforms,” he told me. “They have every right to expect that a Biden administration will protect them from Big Tech.” 

“I am hopeful that a President Biden and a Vice President Harris would stand up to the tech giants,” he added. 

Whitman’s remarks, meanwhile, swiftly became a punch line on Twitter. 

When news first broke of Whitman’s appearance at the convention, many Twitter users initially thought it was a joke and had to do some deep fact-checking. From reporter Ashley Feinberg:

Twitter observers called Whitman out for criticizing Trump’s business acumen – as Quibi’s performance has cast doubt on her own skills. From The Guardian’s Charlie Phillips:

They also noted the short-form format was very familiar to Whitman. From the Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern:

“It’s kind of a mess,” said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. “So far nothing has been consequential. … We don’t really know if it’s working or not working.” 

So far few nations have gotten a download rate higher than 1 in 5 residents. And months into the pandemic, some countries and states are still working on rolling out their apps after intense debates over user privacy. Only Virginia has launched an app in the United States using the Google-Apple coronavirus tracking software. Google says initiatives in 20 more states and territories are on the way.

Some governments argue that Apple and Google’s refusal to hand over more detailed location data on users is hamstringing their efforts; the companies say doing so would violate user privacy.

Experts worry a lack of early results could hobble further adoption. 

“People are starting to realize that an app is not enough. It’s not going to fight the virus,” said Olivier Blazy, a computer science professor at France’s University of Limoges, who has been critical of the apps. “If you are going to invade my privacy, at least I’d like to see results.”

The e-commerce giant is expanding its physical offices in six U.S. cities as it adds thousands of corporate jobs in those areas, the Wall Street Journal’s Sebastian Herrera reports. It’s a stark contrast from other tech companies such as Facebook and Twitter, which are increasingly embracing remote work in the fallout of the pandemic. 

Amazon is planning to add 3,500 corporate jobs across offices in New York, Phoenix, San Diego, Denver, Detroit and Dallas, the company told the Journal today. The company will create 2,000 jobs at the former Manhattan Lord & Taylor flagship store, which it purchased from embattled WeWork for more than $1 billion. 

Amazon is allowing employees who can work remotely to continue to do so until Jan. 8, 2021. But the company eventually expects much of the staff to return to offices, Vice President of Workforce Development Ardine Williams told the Journal.

“The ability to connect with people, the ability for teams to work together in an ad hoc fashion—you can do it virtually, but it isn’t as spontaneous,” Williams said. “We are looking forward to returning to the office.”

The video game maker is also asking the judge to prevent Apple from retaliating against other apps it operates, Gene Park reports. Epic Games says Apple plans to terminate all its developer accounts later this month.

Epic is sounding the alarm that the iPhone maker could also limit the “Unreal Engine,” a graphics tool used by not just games makers but also medical imaging companies and car designers.  The mass removals would escalate the legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, which is suing Apple for removing its Fortnite game after it gave uses the option to buy in-game credits outside of the app store. Epic Games has accused Apple of using an unfair monopoly over app sales to charge developers exorbitant fees.

“The effects will reverberate well beyond video games,” an Epic Games spokeswoman wrote in an email to The Post. “It will affect developers who use the Unreal Engine on Apple products in many fields.”

Game developer Brianna Wu says that the removal could leave a project she’s invested thousands of dollars in “dead in its tracks.”  Apple seems to be pushing developers to use its own software development program, she said.

The department has two teams working on the investigation. One is investigating if the tech giant has used its search engine to stifle competition. Another, which is looking at Google’s advertising business, is concerned that aspects of the probe aren’t ready to move forward, Brent reports. 

Some staffers expressed concerns that officials might be pressured to file the lawsuit before the election. A new administration could influence the outcome of the lawsuit. 

“Things are moving along to my satisfaction in terms of the timing. I’m hoping to make a decision by the end of the summer,” Attorney General William P. Barr, who is spearheading the case, said last week.

“While we continue to engage with ongoing investigations, our focus is firmly on providing free services that help people every day, lower costs for small businesses, and enable increased choice and competition,” a Google spokeswoman told the Journal.

The first night of the convention already gifted us with several meme-able moments, starting with Kasich asking voters to make a decision at an actual fork in the road to chose Biden. The bad commercial vibes made the segment an instant meme.

The Daily Show’s Jason Gilbert:

Verge reporter Makena Kelly:

But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) came prepared with his own signature woodsy backdrop, quickly stealing the show. Mariana Alfaro:

The man has a plan – and a theme. ABC News’ Will Steakin:

“The President of the United States should never be a willing mouthpiece for Russian propaganda,” Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee said in response on Twitter.

Trump retweeted the clip from a now-suspended account that was created in September and whose biography focuses on anti-Biden rhetoric, CNN notes. 

The Commerce Department will require chip manufacturers to get a license before selling any chips intended for Huawei’s use, Jeanne Whalen and Ellen Nakashima report. The vast majority of semiconductors use U.S. technology or software in some way, making the rule a major hit against Huawei.  

The new rules “will prevent Huawei from circumventing U.S. law through alternative chip production and provision of off-the-shelf chips produced with tools acquired from the United States,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Monday. 

The Commerce Department also added 38 new Huawei entities to its blacklist, including many cloud-computing subsidies.

The company has held preliminary talks with ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner, James Fontanella-Khan and Miles Kruppa at the Financial Times report. Oracle is reportedly working with ByteDance investors including Sequoia Capital to outbid Microsoft, which has also expressed interest in TikTok’s U.S. assets. Oracle was founded by Larry Ellison, who is a strong Trump supporter. 

• The Democratic National Convention will take place Monday through Thursday.

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