Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday, allies of Kamala Harris in the tech industry have reportedly been lobbying behind the scenes for the support of wealthy donors, and are on track to raise $100 million.
Harris’ campaign announced that it had raised a record-breaking $81 million in donations in the 24 hours after Biden withdrew, making it “the largest 24-hour fundraising event in the history of a presidential election.”
Now, some of the vice president’s allies are said to be vying to bring the tech industry to her side in an effort to catch up with former President Donald Trump’s campaign. CNBC reported: According to a person familiar with the matter.
Anonymous sources told CNBC that venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and one of OpenAI’s founding investors, and Ron Conway, described as one of Silicon Valley’s “super angels,” have been personally urging Silicon Valley heavyweights to support Harris’ campaign.
Ms Conway has reportedly tried to recruit fellow venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz to Ms Harris’ side, but the pair appear to have already solidified their support for Mr Trump.
The co-founder and partner of Andreessen Horowitz, a California-based venture capital firm founded in 2009, allegedly told employees in early July that he planned to make a large donation to Trump’s PAC. The Information first reported.
This promise is They claim to be lifelong Democrats He is also a friend of the liberals.
Meanwhile, Hoffman persuaded Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings to donate $7 million to Harris’ super PAC. According to the informationThe billionaire Netflix chairman said it was his largest donation to a single candidate to date.
“Democratic delegates need to pick the winners of the battleground states,” Hastings said shortly after Biden announced he was dropping out of the race, perhaps alluding to calls for an open convention and a fresh face for the Democratic Party.
But on Tuesday, Hastings posted again on X: “Congratulations Kamala Harris. It’s time to win.”
A source familiar with the matter told CNBC that Hoffman and Conway plan to raise more than $100 million for Harris’ campaign from big tech donors, super PACs and dark money groups.
Both venture capitalists endorsed the vice president on X shortly after Biden dropped out of the race.
Hoffman praised the Democratic Party as “the party of policy, progress and action,” while Conway called for action, saying, “The tech community must unite behind Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, to defeat Donald Trump and protect our democracy.”
Harris’ allies argue that while Trump’s campaign is still based in large part on his decades-long background in real estate, Harris may be more palatable to business leaders.
Harris’ views on tech regulation are somewhat ambiguous.
The vice president invited four top CEOs — Sam Altman, Dalio Amodei, Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai — to the White House to “share their concerns about the risks associated with AI.” According to the White House.
But in March, Harris said the Biden administration “has no intention of banning TikTok,” the controversial Chinese-backed social media company that often distributes AI-generated content.
And in late April, President Biden signs national security package It included a provision banning ByteDance-owned apps, which would not go into effect until after the 2024 presidential election.
The possibility of banning TikTok has loomed over lawmakers for years.
As president, President Trump tried to ban the app in 2020.
Like Harris, he has wavered on the issue.
“I support TikTok because we need competition,” President Trump recently told Bloomberg Businessweek, a jab at TikTok rivals Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, which runs Instagram, and reportedly wants to stop Trump from making things too easy for the social media billionaire.
Biden, Harris and Trump have all attacked TikTok over the past few years, and all three have campaign accounts on the app to appeal to younger voters.
Beyond concerns about social media, issues with cryptocurrency have left tech investors skeptical of Harris’ views.
Many in the crypto industry are betting big on Trump, hoping the former president will ease scrutiny of the industry.
Cryptocurrency and AI industry players have complained that the Biden administration is too focused on regulating the industry, blocking beneficial legislation.
Bitcoin shares soared shortly after the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, as Trump’s chances of winning against Biden seemed to improve and many expected the former president to deregulate the industry while in office.
Tech giants like Elon Musk have voiced their support for the former president. Musk endorsed Trump on X shortly after the assassination attempt. Musk said he would donate to America PAC, but denied media reports that he donates $45 million a month to Trump’s super PAC.
Harris’s views on cryptocurrency and AI remain unclear, and it remains to be seen whether the tech industry will be persuaded to change its position again.
