SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Like many people in the tech industry, Jeremy Lions considered him a relatively non-political man.
He had only been at the demonstrations at the beginning of the show. Donald Trump’s When he joined fellow Google workers leaving the company’s Silicon Valley campus to protest immigration restrictions. Google co-founders and its chief executives participated.
Last weekend was Lyon’s second over Trump, but he had a very different sense of it.
The man who oversees thousands of marchers with bulls in downtown San Jose on April 5 was another technician who refused to give him a full name for fear of being identified by Trump supporters. Marcher was urged not to harass the drivers of Tesla vehicles, which have moved from Silicon Valley’s environmental futurist icon to a pro-truding icon. And after a few months that a few people had, none of the high-tech executives were seen anywhere. Joined Trump His inauguration ceremony in January.
For the 54-year-old Lions, the change has said a lot about what has happened to Silicon Valley over the past quarter century.
“One thing I saw back then was moving from nerdy utopia to money first, moving fast and breaking things,” Lions said.
Political gaps between technology leaders and their workforce
Political loyalty in the technology industry Still divided. But as some people in the upper class of Silicon Valley have begun to shift politically appropriately, many of the daily workers in the tech industry remain liberal, yet increasingly tense and disillusioned. Their mood is in stark contrast to well-known technical leaders who embraced the ideology of conservative populist people.
“I think there’s a real gap between the leadership elite in Silicon Valley and its workforce,” said Anne Skeet, who helps run the centre studying technology industry ethics at Santa Clara University.
“This shift wasn’t for many people,” said Renee Siegel, former mayor of Mountain View and a longtime liberal activist in the Valley. “It was a handful of people who attracted attention.”
The biggest example is Elon Muskthe world’s wealthiest person, CEO of the world’s most famous electric car company, and has a prominent role in reducing federal agencies in the Trump administration. Musk is joined by several tech billionaires, including David Sachs, an investor who helped raise funds for Trump’s campaign, became the White House artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency emperor and venture capitalist Mark Andrezen. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington.
Zuckerberg It’s begun Praise Trump After the candy date at the time, Zuckerberg piloted towards several state local election offices in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. He threatened to jail him last summer.. Zuckerberg too Donated $1 million The President’s Inauguration Fund Co-hosted the inauguration reception For billionaire Republican donors.
Trump filled many of his administration’s posts With a billionaire And his support from wealthy technical leaders led Democratic President Joe Biden. Warn The US risked becoming an Olihead Ruled by the elite. During Trump’s first term, Tani and his leaders were a breakwater of resistance against Republicans, particularly immigrants.
Contrary to that background, thousands of people attended a recent rally in downtown San Jose Park, protesting Trump and Musk’s actions.
Even as the tech industry changes, Silicon Valley is on the rise
Santa Clara County, which is made up of most Silicon Valley, shook 8 percent points against Trump against Democrat Kamala Harris in the November election, coinciding with California’s shift. Even with that swing, the county remains a democratic hub, voting 68% to 28% against the then president.
“We’re still on the belly of the beast,” said Dave Johnson, the new executive director of Santa Clara GOP. “If the lake is frozen, there’s a bit of a sparkle on top. I’m not saying there’s a crack in the ice.”
Tani has long been a Democrat, but there is an extraordinary political mix. A belief in the ability to solve world problems, coupled with a contradictory mix of libertarian individualism, Bay Area activities and belief in science capabilities.
That continues even as the tech industry changes.
The tech boom was driven by crude startups that cater to workers’ dreams of changing the world for the better. Google’s motto was “Don’t Be Evil.” This is a phrase that was removed from the Code of Conduct by 2018, when other companies such as Facebook and Instagram owned Meta grew into multinational giants. The company has Layoff In recent years, some time ago the shock to the industry seemed poised for unlimited growth.
Entrepreneurs once dreamed of building a world-changing startup, said Jan English Rueck, a professor at San Jose State University who has studied Silicon Valley culture for over 20 years.
“Now,” she said. “If you’re part of a startup, you want you to be absorbed in a profitable way.”
Frustrated among some of the tech industry about where it is heading
Even before some prominent technical leaders shifted to Trump, there was growing frustration among parts of the industry beyond that direction. Idarose Sylvester runs a business that promotes a Silicon Valley-style approach to entrepreneurs from other countries.
“I’m feeling sick now in my stomach,” she said.
Sylvester was already disillusioned with the growing inequality in the valley and the environmental costs of all the energy needed to power crypto, AI, and data centers. She took part in the protest against Trump in 2017, but after losing the 2020 election to Biden, she felt the energy was gone.
“We saw a lot of people get out of politics after Biden won, and it all felt fine,” Sylvester said. “It wasn’t all okay.”
It’s even worse now, she said. She helped organize one of several demonstrations throughout the valley last weekend during a national day of protests against the new administration.
At first glance, what’s in downtown San Jose might have been the typical anti-Trump protest everywhere. A large crowd of mostly middle-aged and elderly people carried signs against the president and musk, chanting against the oligarchs.
But it was clearly a Silicon Valley crowd, shaking from Trump’s challenges to the country’s checking and balancing system, as well as the actions of the top executives in the valley.
“All money has been shifting to wealthy people, and that’s what I’m afraid of,” said Diane Wood, who works at a startup. “Unfortunately, you have Zuckerberg and Elon Mars of the world who are taking over it.”
“Just come here and everyone says they’ll turn off your phone’s face recognition,” Wood added. “We’re all scared.”
Kamal Ali, who works at AI, said she felt betrayed by the shift.
“The trust is broken. Many employees are very upset about what’s going on,” he said. “It’s going to be different forever.”
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Associated Press writer Sarah Parvini and video journalist Haven Daley contributed to the report.
