New Delhi: With President Joe Biden dropping out of the race, Vice President Kamala Harris might become the Democratic Party’s new nominee. Biden has given his full support to Harris, and she has said she aims to win the nomination. It’s still unclear if other Democrats will challenge her at an open convention or another selection process.
If Harris is chosen, the Democrats will have a nominee with strong ties to the Bay Area, as she was born in Oakland and has a long history with the tech industry. She served as San Francisco’s district attorney, then California’s attorney general, before being elected to the Senate in 2016.
Early supporters of Harris included venture capitalists like John Doerr and Ron Conway. During her presidential campaign, she was quickly endorsed by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Some tech figures, like Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, have been more cautious or have called for an open convention. Critics say she didn’t do enough to limit the power of tech giants while she was attorney general.
Despite this, Harris has spoken out about the need for tech regulation. As a senator, she questioned major social media networks about misinformation. During the 2020 presidential campaign, she didn’t support breaking up big tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Facebook but instead said they should be regulated to protect consumer privacy.
As vice president, Harris has talked about regulating AI, saying she and Biden reject the idea that we can only protect the public or advance innovation, not both. Biden issued an executive order for new AI standards, and Harris said these commitments are just the start of efforts to make AI safer. She stressed the need for regulation to stop tech companies from prioritizing profits over customer safety and democracy.
Some venture capitalists, like Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, worry that the Biden administration might overregulate AI, which is one reason they support Donald Trump. Regarding TikTok, Harris said there are national security concerns about its parent company, ByteDance, but there is no plan to ban TikTok.
