J.D. Vance is a Silicon Valley insider and tech policy critic
J.D. Vance's tech policy is likely to focus on bolstering competition with China while addressing perceived political biases amid big tech platforms like Google and Meta.
U.S. Senator J.D. Vance's ties to the tech sector and the 2024 Republican platform signal a different approach to tech policy under a Trump administration compared with the current Biden administration.
In picking Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate, former President Donald Trump is bringing on someone who has taken strong tech-related policy positions on China and political bias in big tech. Since 2023 in his time serving as a U.S. senator, Vance has introduced and co-sponsored bills targeting Chinese involvement in U.S. markets. He sent a letter to Google voicing concerns about political bias in its AI model and endorsed repealing Section 230, which gives immunity to big tech companies from outside content posted on their platforms.
However, regulating big tech companies, including their use of AI, likely won't be on Vance's tech policy agenda, said Darrell West, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. According to the 2024 Republican party platform document, Trump would repeal Biden's executive order on AI and "slash regulations that stifle jobs, freedom and innovation."
Vance likely would have a lighter regulatory touch on tech companies than the Biden administration, said Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
Vance is "downright critical" of internet companies like Google and Meta, particularly for their perceived political orientation, Atkinson said. What Vance wants to see is how government and the private sector can help build up technology advances and technology companies in the U.S. to address challenges like energy and competition with China, he added.
"What he wants to do is try to align the technology economy with national priorities, particularly on competing with China," Atkinson said.
Vance's policy on tech, China
While Vance might have a more lenient regulatory approach to tech when it comes to innovation and competition, he's critical of large tech platforms in other areas. Vance has focused largely on his belief that the tech sector has a liberal bias and is silencing conservative voices, West said.
This year, Vance teamed up with Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, to send a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai raising concerns about the company's AI model Gemini disregarding historical facts and publicly available information "to align with woke ideology," according to a news release. The letter asked Google to provide information on how it developed Gemini and what actions it plans to take to prevent political bias.
West said that Vance's background as a venture capitalist creates close ties to the tech sector, outside of concerns about tech companies' political orientations. In 2020, he started an early-stage venture capital fund Narya Capital in Ohio with funding from major tech players, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel. Before that he worked with some of the same tech leaders in other venture capital firms.
"These are some of the richest tech people in the U.S., so I think he's going to open up a lot of tech money for the Trump ticket," West said.
Boosting U.S. tech innovation to compete with China will be a significant focus for Vance, Atkinson said. In March, Vance introduced a bill to restrict the Chinese government from accessing U.S. capital markets, including real estate, banks, investment companies and national securities exchanges if not following international laws of trade, commerce and finance.
He also co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to increase tariffs on vehicles made in China. Vance's China policy aligns with Trump's, who said during the first presidential debate in June that he plans to implement a 10% tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. When he was president, Trump also implemented tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports.
"Vance will be tough on China," Brookings' West said.
Bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. will be a big focus for Vance as well, West said. In announcing his pick for vice president, Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social that Vance's successful career in technology and finance will be "strongly focused" on farmers and middle-class workers in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Minnesota. Vance wrote a popular personal memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, detailing the struggles of working-class families.
"He does want to strengthen manufacturing in the U.S.," West said. "That will be very important in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. I think he'll spend a lot of time in those areas."
He also co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., to provide funds for the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program to improve secure and affordable broadband access.
"He certainly has been willing to reach across the aisle and be bipartisan," Atkinson said.
Makenzie Holland is a senior news writer covering big tech and federal regulation. Prior to joining TechTarget Editorial, she was a general assignment reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.
