Globalization

Cloud Computing Services

United States

Although smaller, Adobe, Netflix, Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce, Snap, Twitter (now X), and Uber are sometimes referred to as Big Tech due to their popular influence.[98][99] Twitter (X Corp.) has been criticized as an example of Big Tech due to its outsized influence on politics.[98][100][101][102]

In May 2023, Nvidia crossed $1 trillion in market valuation during trading hours,[103] and grew to $1.2 trillion by the following November.[104] In February 2024, Nvidia surpassed both Amazon and Alphabet to $1.83 trillion in market capitalization to become the third most valuable U.S. company after Apple and Microsoft.[105][106]

Tesla

Automaker Tesla has frequently been called Big Tech, though its inclusion is subject to debate. Opponents to its designation as a tech company include Stephen Wilmot, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, who raises concerns regarding the supply chain, especially raw materials, semiconductor shortages, and the price of electric vehicle batteries.[107] Business Insider stated that because Tesla makes cars, it should be classified as an automaker.[108] Al Root of Barron's argued that Tesla is a tech company, but not a good one due to differences in the information technology and automotive markets.[109] Fortune also designated Tesla as a tech company when reporting Big Tech's 2022 Q1 earnings, and The Washington Post argued that Tesla's vehicles are comparable to Apple's iPhone and its walled garden ecosystem.[110][111]

In October 2021, Tesla passed $1 trillion in market capitalization.[112][113] After its stock price peaked in November 2021,[114] Tesla fell to $495 billion in market capitalization by December 2022 with its stock losing 73% of its value from the peak and more than 40% of its value in December 2022 alone (and falling by more than double the decline of the Nasdaq during the course of 2022).[115][116][117]

East Asia

Two Chinese technology companies, Alibaba and Tencent, were among the top ten most valuable public companies worldwide at the end of the 2010s. Smyrnaios argued in 2016 that the East Asian technology giants such as Samsung, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent could be included in the definition of Big Tech.[118] Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi, referred to as BATX, are often seen as Chinese competitors analogous to Big Tech in the Western World. TikTok developer ByteDance and occasionally drone maker DJI have also been called Big Tech.[119][120] Futurist Amy Webb has called the combination of the Big Five, IBM, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent "G-MAFIA BAT".[121]

Causes

the Big Tech firms all rank near the top on the list of companies by research and development spending.

"Cloud wars" between the tech giants have been observed as a major factor over the years, as the companies have competed on developing more efficient cloud computing services.[129]

Among those who believe that acquisitions will weaken an original innovative atmosphere is scholar

Tim Wu. Wu pointed out that when Meta acquired Instagram, it simply eliminated a competitive threat that may have presented a fresher competitor had it remained independent. He also states however that when

Microsoft first emerged, with its innovations in personal computing and operating systems, it created platforms for new innovations by others.

Wu formulated the idea of oligopoly "kill zones" created by acquiring competitors that approach their market.

Big Tech operating in digital markets and being inherently focused on technology mean that

Big Tech is more likely to focus on innovation than other groups of large industry dominating corporations before them.

According to a report by the think tank ITIF,

acquisitions being possible supports innovation, arguing the larger firm is less likely to simply copy the process of the smaller firm.

Globalization

According to Smyrnaios, globalization has allowed

Big Tech to minimize its global taxation load and pay international workers much lower wages than would be required in the United States.