How Silicon Valley Buys Influence In Washington | Nick Clegg Clip

Channel: Alex Kantrowitz

Published at: 2025-11-22

YouTube video id: FTl52Zk9HTY

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTl52Zk9HTY

There was a terrific story, actually a
great leak of a memo from Brad Smith,
the president of Microsoft. The
Microsoft employees were asking him why
Microsoft donates to packs and causes.
And he gave what I think is like the
most interesting and honest answer. Um,
I'll just read a bit of it. He says, uh,
about the money. I can tell you it plays
an important role, not because the
checks are big, but because the way the
political process works. Politicians in
the United States have events. They have
weekend retreats. You have to write a
check and then you get invited to
participate. So if you work in the
government affairs team in the United
States, you spend your weekends going to
these events, you spend your evenings
going to these dinners and the reason
you go is because the pack writes a
check. Out of that ongoing effort, a
relationship evolves and emerges and
solidifies and can tell you as somebody
who sometimes uh is picking up the phone
basically to get people to answer. Yeah.
Is that how it works?
>> Yeah, I think it works. That's the way
it works in the US. Yeah. Yeah. It
doesn't absolutely doesn't work like
that in the same way elsewhere. But the
U US political system is so moneyed in a
way that's I think almost without
precedent anywhere in the democratic
world certainly that I know about. Um
and in a sense you know what's happened
under Trump too is that that has just
become that transactionalism has just
become way more
overt. You know
>> you don't like the idea of bringing a
gold bar to the person
>> gold bars paying for a gold laminated
ballroom all the rest of it. It it's
kind of it's kind of like it's become
all like almost like a sort of pastiche
satire of a highly transactional um cash
so money sorry um financially based um
um um you know set of relationships
which I think all the all the all the
big corporates um are involved in and
they do it openly they do it leg legally
they do it lawfully there's nothing
illicit going on um but in a culture
where where elected politicians are
literally non-stop fundraising
and that's all they're doing. Um, uh,
this has clearly become an established
way exactly as Brad, uh, who I like and
admire enormously. Um, as Brad, um,
explained, it's not it's not you're not
buying a decision. You're you're you're
buying an entry ticket into an event
which then get, you know, etc., etc.,
etc.
>> Retreats fund.
>> I have I I um I didn't go myself. there
were much better placed folk uh in uh in
my meta team who uh who had much better
relationships. You know, I'm a
non-American. My my role was I had
oversight when I was at
>> Meta for the the US operation, but was
was was quite sort of globally focused.
>> How do how do if we talked about in in
the beginning of this conversation sort
of the need for there to be a check on
some of the companies within Silicon
Valley if you know if they're pursuing
this powerful technology? It doesn't
seem to me like there can be if this is
the way the system works.
>> No, I mean it doesn't mean that the US
political system is incapable of
regulating or putting constraints on
companies that uh who whose
[clears throat] whose lobbying teams
still make these contributions to go to
the golfing weekend here or the dinner
there and so on so forth. So I don't I
don't I don't think the evidence is that
the US political system is just rendered
um you know completely inert um by this
um you know by the way in which um
corporate um contributions through packs
and so on are are made. um it it just
seems to be the way in which the
relationships are are conducted and
established in the in the first place
and and the US body politic has
regulated everything from the pensions
industry to the banking industry to arms
and oil even though all of those
companies and the companies in all of
those sectors are doing exactly the same
thing trying to go to the same golf
retreat going to the same fishing
weekend or whatever it is. Um so so I I
don't think that I think I um I don't
think it is the case that that means
that um um thoughtful political action
in in in legislative form is made
impossible. Though I totally understand
why people say or think like you know
your average punter is going wow that's
is that the way it works but it is the
way it works in the US. I mean it's not
it's hardly it's hardly a secret and
it's totally open there. There's nothing
illicit about it. That's the crucial
thing. Was it ever weird for you that
these politicians who I'm sure were like
holding these retreats and weekends uh
with your team members were then up on
the um hearing stage and giving the
>> I'm the worst person to ask cuz I you
know I come from a much smaller but but
older democracy called the UK by
comparison and this kind of behan
as I think your wife is German you'll
know a little bit about that you know
just I mean
>> it it's just it doesn't mean that there
aren't money issues in the in which uh
um politicians
>> I just find it so hypocritical that they
would take the money and then call this
tech CEO in for the hearing and lambast
them to show that they're tough on big
tech.
>> Wouldn't you prefer them at least to do
that than then not lambast them. I mean
I think I think I think if anything
>> I prefer them to be effective I guess is
my
>> Yeah. No, no, no. I'm I'm with you and
and um personally as a as a as I say as
a non non non-American
um I'm just stunned at the the the sort
of the extraordinary amount of money
that slloshes around in American um
democracy. But it always has. It's kind
of the way it is. and and the kind of
European approach of having any kind of
state subsidy or anything for ads or for
any kind of politics is is considered to
be for perfectly good reasons perhaps is
considered to be deeply deeply sort of
suspect here in the US.
>> We do it in New York actually in New
York we have matching funds. So if you
every dollar you raise up until a
certain amount you get like seven or
eight dollars. Okay. So
>> well I defer to you on that but that may
be the case but
>> given it is the way it is and right
>> certainly in my job at Meta I dealt with
the way the world that as it was not as
I might ideally want it to be if I could
architect it from its from its
foundations. Um you'd want surely
politicians to do exactly the thing
you've just said which is hypocritical
is they take the money and they invite
the invite person X from Silicon Valley
Y to um the the fishing weekend or the
golf retreat. You want them surely then
still to be able to get up on their hind
legs and excoriate those th those those
companies and apply pressure to them.
But they've done nothing big tech.
They've done nothing to big tech.
They've done nothing. And that's what
I'm saying. I you of course you you
don't want them to like say you free
pass. But to me the point is
>> the thing that's really surprising the
system itself is broken if that's what's
going to happen because we see the
effect and I'm not here saying we need
to have big tech you know massive big
tech regulation. Obviously that could be
misguided as well. It's just that when
you when you look at the way the system
works, it's it's crazy to me.
>> So, my experience just to just to do
something very unfashionable, which is
to stand up for the political class and
to stand up for the um you know, the
really um in many ways really
thoughtful, good people who I saw were
in the in the business of trying to
represent these companies in DC and my
team and elsewhere. They're not they're
not shady. These are really decent
people trying to just do a good decent
day's job. But here's the thing, right?
Um, I often found that the reasons why
there there was no consensus across
across the aisle on issues had less to
do with who's gone on their their
fishing retreat or their golf weekend,
but more to do with deep differences
between Republicans, Democrats on state
preeemption, for instance. You know,
that was something which constantly
bedeled and and stopped uh progress.
Now, you might say that was an alibi for
people not to take action, but I was
always very struck, you know, cuz I
would ask myself, why on earth does the
US of all countries not have a federal
privacy law? It's like that, you know,
this is you would have thought that
would be entirely in line with the
constitutional principles of this
country and and I think it it often came
down to very deeply held views about the
relative um roles and responsibilities
of the federal government and states and
so on. Um the thing I am surprised about
I have to say is why there hasn't been
despite all the energy that that is
generated on both sides of the aisle on
this why there hasn't been more progress
at federal level on um legislating uh to
to to you know to make sure that kids
and teens right are protected in a way
that other users you know which is quite
special compared to other users of
social media and other other um online
experiences that that does seem it and
it doesn't surprise me at all that other
other states It's California is only the
latest example, perhaps the most
significant one are now taking matters
into their own into their own hands
because that's a reasonable thing to do
if nothing happens in C.