Big tech faces big questions. Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook face an antitrust grilling

Jeff Bezos, the Amazon CEO, testifies before Congress on Wednesday.  Pool photo by Graeme Jennings

Big tech faces big questions

Tech executives for the first time appeared together at an antitrust hearing into the U.S. tech industry on Wednesday that has been compared to U.S. efforts to minimize the power of tobacco companies.

The chief executives of Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon testified on whether their dominance has harmed the economy, stifled rivals and left consumers with few choices. All denied those claims.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google spoke by videoconference as members of Congress met in person on Capitol Hill.

There were catchphrases, emotional speeches and technical issues. It was the culmination of a yearlong investigation into the companies by a committee of lawmakers. Many federal and state antitrust officials are also investigating the tech giants.

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Go deeper: Jeff Bezos, the Amazon chief executive, has been cast in a role he never wanted: his company’s defender in Washington. He has taken an unusually hands-off approach with policymakers in the nation’s capital, our reporters write.

What they said: We tallied how often the C.E.O.s repeated certain arguments and catchphrases, like “We are not that big” and “We are good for America.”

How they looked: They may have trillions between them, but the C.E.O.s dressed to project humility, our fashion critic writes.

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Legislators have waded through 1.3m documents from the companies and could confront the tech bosses with unpleasant evidence

ECONOMIST.COM
Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook face an antitrust grilling


Lawmakers will grill Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg on all manner of prickly antitrust questions

ECONOMIST.COM

Legislators in Washington will address the dominance of America's largest tech firms
Congress v Big Tech