Big Tech is back in the spotlight — and not in a good way. On July 29, the chief executives of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook spent more than five hours fielding tough questions about their overwhelming market power from a bipartisan antitrust panel in the U.S. House of Representatives. Is the end of an era approaching?
In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a boon for tech companies. As Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg all noted in their opening statements at the antitrust hearing, people appreciate the services their companies provide. Recent research indicates that the COVID-19 crisis has deepened this appreciation.