From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Big Tech, also known as the Tech Giants, are the largest information technology companies. The term most often refers to the Big Five tech companies in the United States: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.[1][2] In China, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi (BATX) are the equivalent of the Big Five. Big Tech can also include smaller tech companies with high valuations, such as Netflix and Nvidia, or non-tech companies with high-tech practices, such as the automaker Tesla.[3][4][5]

The concept of Big Tech is analogous to the consolidation of market dominance by a few companies in other market sectors, such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan in investment banking, the Big Three consulting firms, Big Oil, and Big Media.[6]

Background

The term "Big Tech" first appeared in media reports around 2013, as some economists saw signs of these companies becoming dominant with little regulation. After the late-1990s dot-com bubble wiped out most of the Nasdaq Composite stock market index, surviving technology companies expanded their market share and could no longer be considered startups. The term "Big Tech" became popular around 2017, following the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, as the role these technology companies played with access to a large amount of user data ("Big data") and the ability to influence their users came under Congressional review. The term "Big Tech" is similar to how the largest oil companies were called "Big Oil" following the 1970s energy crisis, or the largest cigarette producers were called "Big Tobacco", as the United States Congress sought to regulate those industries.[6] It is also similar to how, at the turn of the 21st century, the mainstream media became dominated by a small number of corporations called "Big Media" or the "Media Giants".[7] Dominant companies like IBM and Microsoft were the 20th-century precursors to Big Tech.[8]

Membership