With the US Presidential election drawing nearer and nearer, the world waits to see if the Democrats will prevail with bated breath – or if former President Donald Trump reclaims his seat in the Oval Office.
This is set to be one of the most landmark elections in modern US history, with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris currently edging her Republican rival by the narrowest of margins. 5 November promises more than just a leadership contest – it’s a referendum on two vastly different approaches to government.
The outcome will also have massive implications for the technology industry, but to what end? In a two-part series, I’ll be unpacking what the respective administrations mean for the sector. First up – Harris.
Harris’s History with Tech
Before I dig into what a tech sector with Kamala Harris in the Oval Office might look like, I’m going to take a look at the presidential hopeful’s relationship with the industry during her career as California Attorney General.
Harris took office in January 2011 and remained in her post until 2017, at which point she was elected to the US Senate. In that time, she enacted a series of measures aimed at stamping out tech-related crime. In 2011, for instance, she established an eCrime Unit to tackle identity theft, data breaches, and related crimes. At the time, California was home to 10 of the top 25 metropolitan areas for identity theft-related consumer complaints.
A year later, Harris was instrumental in securing an agreement with leading players in the tech space, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more, to improve privacy protections for app users. Her crusade continued in 2015, when she convened tech officials and victim spokespeople for a meeting on “revenge porn” – in the wake of this, Twitter and Google enacted sweeping reform around exploitative imagery.
It’s also worth noting that Harris has been endorsed by a number of significant figures from the industry. During her unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020, she received backing from Microsoft President Brad Smith, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky, and she has since been endorsed by LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman. The backing of these individuals, and the companies they represent, carries a lot of weight. Clearly, they believe a Harris presidency would be favorable to their business practices.
Tech Under the Biden-Harris Administration
Harris’s tenure as Vice President has largely been characterized by the ongoing fight to regulate AI. Appointed “AI czar” by President Biden at the end of last year, she has overseen efforts to introduce some order to a world that is frequently described as lawless.
While it is Republican hopeful Donald Trump that can count on the support of Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen, Harris has been an essential part of the AI story in the last couple of years. She was the driving force behind landmark legislation in 2023 that sought to bring about the “safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI.”
In the year since, the current Vice President has doubled-down on this cautionary approach with a series of initiatives “to advance the safe and responsible use of AI.” At a summit in London later that year, she called for “leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector…to make sure that AI is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm.”
Pointedly, she continued: “When people around the world cannot discern fact from fiction because of a flood of AI-enabled mis- and disinformation, I ask, is that not existential for democracy?” She has memorably been on the wrong end of AI-generated deepfakes herself.
It’s important to clarify that Harris isn’t just a stern critic of this technology – she has repeatedly drawn attention to its potential for “profound good” in a number of areas. Speaking at a fundraiser in New York last month, she pledged her commitment to “invest in America’s future. We will encourage innovative technologies like AI…while protecting our consumers and investors.”
What Can We Expect from a Harris Presidency?
From the evidence that we have access to, there’s every reason to believe that Harris would soften the federal government’s approach to regulating the tech sector – while continuing to doggedly pursue an AI policy that emphasizes caution.
Last month, the New York Times reported that Harris had “expressed skepticism of [Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina M. Khan] Ms. Khan’s broad antitrust approach.” Under her remit, the US has sued four corporations for alleged unfair practices – Apple, Meta, Amazon, and Google. Hoffman has openly called for Khan’s removal from her post. It remains to be seen whether Harris will heed that call.
Throughout her career, she has fought to stamp out bad practices and, when needed, keep a powerful industry in check – while being careful to not stifle innovation. She has the backing of several high-profile members of the industry, and she’s repeatedly pushed AI to the forefront of the White House agenda.
If Harris takes office in January 2025, she will be warmly welcomed by large portions of the sector. In other quarters, the reception will be a little more frosty. One thing is for certain – the next few months will be fascinating.
Header image credit: “Kamala Harris” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
