Big Tech’s new frenemy era is here
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The start of Trump 2.0 marks a new Frenemy Era for Big Tech. As Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg try to curry favor with the incoming president, they appear to be warming to Donald Trump’s “First Buddy" Elon Musk after years of frosty relations.
It’s all part of a dance where the two are trying to escape the incoming president’s longtime ire and direct it elsewhere within the tech world. That lovefest was on display this past week. Musk and Bezos exchanged early Valentines through postings on X about each other’s respective rocket launches.
And Zuckerberg—who was agreeing not long ago to cage fight Musk—delivered the sincerest form of flattery: imitating Musk by going Trumpcore and abandoning Meta’s fact-checking and DEI principles. “Real Mark," as the Facebook co-founder described himself on Joe Rogan’s podcast, sounded a lot like Musk in recent years. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has rallied against the “woke mind virus," his term for progressive policies, such as diversity, equity and inclusion, that he says weaken organizations.
Musk’s relationships with business rivals Bezos and Zuckerberg have long been notable for their public confrontations—often punctuated by Musk’s own tweets. When Bezos’ rocket company, Blue Origin, years ago protested a government contract given to SpaceX, Musk responded with some double-entendre about his rival’s performance: “Can’t get it up (to orbit) lol." Toward the end of this past week, however, rocket launches by each man’s space company appeared to bring them together. Musk even latched on to a meme from the movie “Step Brothers," about warring boys who later become buddies with the iconic line: “Did we just become best friends?" “Step Brothers is the
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