All posts tagged "Meta"

Corporate titans who showered President Donald Trump with cash are quietly bracing for payback should Democrats seize the House after the midterms.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a cluster of major companies, many of them tech firms, that poured millions into Trump's pet projects and political operations has begun preparing for a possible wave of congressional probes. Some are standing up internal task forces to rehearse their answers to subpoenas and information demands, while others are cutting fresh checks to Democrats and staffing up with the party's former operatives, anonymous insiders told The Journal.

Meta recently steered $5 million apiece to two nonprofits tied to House and Senate Democratic leadership, according to The Journal. Paramount, the media network that controls CBS and streamed Trump's White House UFC fight, has brought on a former legislative director to President Joe Biden. The prediction-market firm Kalshi has hired ex-aides to Barack Obama and Biden. OpenAI chief Sam Altman spent the summer hosting Washington dinners for Democratic lawmakers....

From Alphabet to X, eight of the largest tech giants spent a record of $71 million combined on U.S. political lobbying in 2025, according to a new report from Issue One, a bipartisan nonprofit working to reduce the influence of money in politics.

“Big Tech is using every tool in the toolbox to gain access and influence in Trump's Washington,” said Michael Beckel, senior research director at Issue One and report co-author.

It’s the latest example of “pay-to-play politics” under President Donald Trump, the report says — highlighting how tech, artificial intelligence (AI) and social media companies spent nearly $330,000 each day Congress was in session in 2025, and came away with a series of wins around industry regulations. ...

The internet reacted Monday to the news that a former aide to President Donald Trump has been named a top leader at Meta.

Dina Powell McCormick, former deputy national security advisor and wife of Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), was named Meta's next president and vice chairman in a company announcement.

President Donald Trump reacted to the leadership change in a Truth Social post: ...

Flanked by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted a White House dinner with some of the richest and most powerful leaders of the world’s tech giants.

To Fraser Patterson, CEO and founder of Skillit, an AI-powered construction hiring platform, it was no coincidence that after the meeting last month of more than 30 Silicon Valley power players and Trump advisers, the administration unveiled a plan to charge $100,000 one-time application fees for H-1B visas, which tech companies typically use to employ highly skilled foreign workers.

“It can appear as though, rather than it being an improvement to immigration policy, it feels a little more like a labor war strategy,” Patterson said....

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) called out Big Tech, including Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg and other social platform leaders who refuse to show up and discuss the companies' alleged use of AI chatbots exploiting children, pushing some to self-harm and suicide.

"Zuckerberg and his friends at Meta rejected my invitation to appear before the Senate and answer for the harms caused by their AI chatbots. So I gave the floor to the brave parents of chatbot victims. Thank you for revealing the ugly truth about profit-loving Big Tech," Hawley said during a Judiciary subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

Hawley launched a probe into Meta in August, seeking more information about its use of AI chatbots and children. He accused the companies of dodging responsibility. ...

Meta’s announcement earlier this month that anti-trans activist Robby Starbuck “will work collaboratively” with the company to address bias in its AI products marks another step in the social media giant’s rapid shift to the right.

Starbuck is a former music video editor who repositioned himself as a conservative influencer, best known for leveraging social media to pressure companies such as Tractor Supply Co. to abandon commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Starbuck has also spread anti-LGBTQ messaging, equating trans people with pedophiles through repeated use of the term “groomer.”...