Poll: Americans now view Big Tech money and CEOs as Republican

Por Calder McHugh — POLITICO – TOP Stories

American voters across the political spectrum now assume most top tech CEOs are conservative, according to new results from The POLITICO Poll. And a plurality of voters say they believe tech is the biggest financial backer of the Republican Party.

The results, first revealed in Decoded by POLITICO, could complicate not only the prospects of Republicans trying to break from President Donald Trump in the midterms or 2028 amid rising backlash to Big Tech and AI. They could also spell trouble for the companies themselves next year, when Democrats are expected to control at least the House.

The new poll, conducted by polling firm PF Global, looked at the biggest names in tech, from Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman to Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, and marks a sea change in views of an industry long viewed as liberal, based in deep-blue California. Within tech circles, these three warring CEOs are known to have significantly divergent politics from one another.

Amodei has only donated to Democrats or largely Democrat-aligned PACs, while Altman has reserved his largest donations for Democrat-aligned PACs while giving to some Republicans. Musk, meanwhile, has recently gone on one of the largest spending sprees for Republican causes for Republican causes in history.

But outside of the tech bubble, Americans who do have an opinion see them as mostly holding similar politics, in particular Altman and Amodei. And many Americans don’t have an opinion or don’t know who these CEOs are at all.

“Over the last few years, the image of Silicon Valley as a liberal industry has all but gone. Both Harris and Trump voters now see AI companies as Republican,” said Seb Wride, PF Global’s head of polling. “The risk for tech companies is that the parties turn them into a voting issue and fix this perception for years to come.”

Musk was the most likely to be viewed as Republican, with 59% of Americans identifying him as such, while only 14% think he’s a Democrat. Musk gave at least $276 million to boost Republicans in the third quarter, according to FEC filings on Thursday, making him by far the largest spender of the cycle.

Bill Gates, meanwhile, was the only tech CEO out of eight on the survey who more Americans believe is a Democrat (35%) than a Republican (31%).

Forty percent of Americans believe Mark Zuckerberg is a Republican, while 27% think he’s a Democrat. Thirty-two percent of Americans think Altman is Republican, and 22% believe he’s a Democrat. Twenty-nine percent said they don’t know who he is. Amodei — whose company has been more at odds with the White House — was less likely than Altman to be viewed as Republican at 28%, but that surpasses the 20% who think he was a Democrat. And 35% said they are unaware of who he is.

For most of these CEOs, both Democrats and Republicans were more likely to believe that they are Republicans. The exceptions were Gates and Apple CEO Tim Cook, who more Democrats believe was a Democrat.

Even a fake tech CEO was pegged as Republican. The POLITICO Poll tested the name of a fake tech CEO: “Marshall Ancoates.” Twenty-two percent of respondents said they believe “Ancoates” to be a Republican, while 18% think he was a Democrat. Thirty percent of Trump 2024 voters believe that “Ancoates” is a Republican, compared to 19% who believe he is a Democrat. Harris 2024 voters were split: 24% believe him to be a Democrat, while 24% think he’s a Republican.

That finding is notable because it suggests that Americans are more likely to assume any tech CEO is a Republican rather than a Democrat. That’s true in particular of Trump voters.

Americans associate tech workers almost directly with their bosses. And employees at AI companies are thought to be more Republican than employees at more legacy tech outfits. Fifty-three percent of Americans think Tesla employees are Republicans; eighteen percent think they are Democrats. At OpenAI, it’s 33% Republican and 26% Democrat. At Anthropic, the numbers are close — 28% surveyed believed Anthropic employees leaned Republican, while 25% thought they leaned Democratic.

Employees at Microsoft, Apple and Google are very slightly associated more with Democrats — Google was the most associated with Democrats of the three companies, at 34% Democrat to 28% Republican.

The poll also showed Americans believe the tech industry is the biggest donor to Republican causes. Decoded asked respondents, out of 12 industries ranging from environment and climate to gun rights, which spent the most money in support of Republican candidates this year. Pluralities of both Harris (38%) and Trump (26%) voters narrowly agreed that the AI and tech industry was the biggest spender for Republican causes. Americans believe that Democracy and voting rights groups donate the most to Democrats.

A version of this story first appeared in Decoded by POLITICO, the must-read briefing on the people, power moves, policy battles and market shifts defining what’s next in global technology. Sign up to subscribe to the newsletter and listen to the podcast.

Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories