Google Gemini was used to research this piece. This Essay was posted on 8/17/2026.
Barack Obama wrote in Audacity of Hope, “Money can’t guarantee victory …”, but he needed a lot of money to counteract Republican spending. In his Presidential campaigns, individual contributions accounted for only 25% of his political expenses. The other 75% came from rich contributors and businesses. Obama used the Supreme Court Citizens United decision to get the money he needed to win the Presidency. But the problem with Citizens United involves more than winning an election.
Since the introduction of personal computers and the world wide web, a group of tech-based monopolies have emerged, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon, and they are getting rich. Joe Biden’s administration focused on policies and legislation designed to control the tech monopolies, but the tech companies fought back to protect their money-making machines.
The tech giants challenged Biden’s efforts in the courts. They challenged the credibility of FTC Chair Lina Kahn, DOJ Antitrust Chief Jonathan Kanter, and others. The tech companies also lobbied against pending legislation, arguing that Biden’s efforts would threaten national security and make internet services less valuable to consumers.
Biden’s anti-monopoly campaign had mixed results. The tech companies made fewer outright acquisitions and instead made complicated investment deals with new emerging technologies. For example, Google’s parent company owns substantial shares in a number of independent AI-companies such as Anthropic, Runway, and Waymo. By investing in these companies, Google can influence AI development without becoming a bigger monopoly on paper.
Three hypothetical questions come to mind. First, given the tech companies’ frustrations with Biden administration policies, were they involved in Biden’s departure from the 2024 Presidential campaign? Second, did Citizens United give large, monopolistic companies too much influence with the Federal Government? And third, does technology give tech monopolies an unfair edge, because automation can be shared so easily?
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