What's Behind Biden-Tech Deal?

In this article, I will present a summary of what is known about the recent deal between the president of the US Joe Biden – the federal government – and the big tech representatives, namely, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, etc. The US federal government has love-hate relationships with its private sector – most notably with the tech sector – which is completely fine for a democratic state. It is always a trade-off between omnipresent government and loose regulation. Both cases may result in a huge crisis destroying the lives of many people.

To depict the importance of some moderate presence of the state in the economy, one can call to mind that one of the most prominent reasons behind the Global Financial Crysis of 2008-9 was a very tiny regulation imposed on the investment banks which enabled them to engage in high-risk activities such over-lending to name a few. On the contrary, we can recall China where the private sector is a mere servant to the government – the state is so strong that it can conduct almost any sort of repression toward the private sector which is well-depicted in what recently happened in the country to the tech and education industries (the Chinese’s tech crackdown). Both scenarios are bad – both outcomes harm people in some form or another. Hence, a healthy country should always have some trade-off between the Stalin-style command economy and the laissez-faire economy which causes tremendous inequality and marginalization of society.

The president of the US on behalf of the federal government managed to sign up for a deal with the largest representatives of the US tech industry. During the meeting, Joe Bided acknowledged the fact that the greatest piece of vital American infrastructure – most prominently regarding cybersecurity – was delivered on the table by the big tech and the country's private sector in general. He said that the public sector alone did not stand the chance of protecting America from increasingly blunt and dangerous cybersecurity threats posed by Russia and some other dictatorships. As a result of the meeting, the big tech agreed to pledge USD 4 trillion to increase the capacity of the country to withstand the challenges of today’s world which come in very different forms and shapes. First and foremost, the tech giants offered a promise to dedicate substantial means to boost the US cyberattack resilience capabilities via cooperation with the National Institute of Standards and Technology. They also expressed their readiness to notably contribute to the elimination of the tech inequality problem which, if not tackled soon and diligently, may turn into a social disaster in the foreseeable future.

Let’s dive a bit deeper and see some interesting details lying on the seabed. As an outcome of long and difficult negotiations that finally were conducted, Apple pledged to launch a brand-new program designed to continuously improve its security at all stages of the technology supply chain. To achieve greater security, the company will adopt multi-factor authentication and do other steps to make it increasingly difficult to commit fraud or cyberattacks. When it comes to Google, the giant announced to direct USD 10 billion investment to expanding its zero-trust programs over the next five years and other crucial steps to boost the security of the country. To address the problem of digital inequality, Google claims to help 100,000 Americans get certificates which will pave the way for many Americans to the digital industry. IBM – the company that also got involved in strategic cooperation with the US government – announced its readiness to train 150,000 people in cybersecurity over the next years. The company goes even further and makes sure that there is diversity in the cybersecurity industry by partnering with 20 historically black colleges. Microsoft will invest substantial funds in bolstering the US cybersecurity net by delivering sophisticated solutions to the table over the following 5 years. Amazon will offer to everyone the security training it supplies its employees with. The company will also follow the lead of Apple in terms of the multiple authentication processes for its services. Some other players in the industry also promise to contribute to either infrastructure or educational activities so that the country is ready for the challenges that the 21st century prepares for it.???

Now, let’s look at the most pressing challenges posed to the US in terms of cyberattacks. Unfortunately, cyberattacks got more frequent and now pose a huge threat to virtually any sector of the economy. For example, not so far ago hackers from Russia attacked a prime US oil pipeline which led to the pipeline decreasing its capacity for some time. As a result of the ransomware attack, lots of the East Coast areas were deprived of oil supply. Moreover, in 2020, Russia launched successful attacks on several US federal agencies. Also, Microsoft informed that its email service fell prey to the cyberattack from China. JBS - the world's largest meat processing company – was also a target for allegedly Russian hackers which made it stop its operation in Australia, Canada, and the US for some time. The list can be continued for a very long time, as said as that. We see that never-stopping attempts of various parties to engage in cyberattacks got a part of our modern reality. Hence, the negotiations initiated and realized by Joe Biden are a very sound and reasonable response to the problem.

For a country to be strong and sovereign in the age of AI and adjacent fields, the tech industry should have - well, in my opinion - a reasonable understanding and support from the state. The state should prioritize cybersecurity and all other emerging aspects of national security. China appears to understand that well, however, it is still authoritarian and the methods of the CPU (crackdown) are still unacceptable and detrimental for the long-term of the country. I am glad that finally there is a dialogue emerging between the US government and tech giants. The world should see that the two institutions (the state and the private sector) can collaborate and be successful at pursuing the goal of ensuring peaceful and prosperous life for people.

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