Politico: Big Tech Wants to Apply Its Monopoly Power to the Cars of Tomorrow

A recent article by Politico outlines how big tech firms like Google, Apple, and Amazon are now aiming to apply their monopoly power to the auto manufacturing industry in the race to build the car of the future.

Politico reports in an article titled “Big Tech’s Next Monopoly Game — Building the Car of the Future,” that big tech firms including Google and Apple are planning to move into the auto industry and compete to develop the future of modern cars.

Google has made major strides in this regard, signing a deal with Ford to have Google Maps, Assistant, and Play Store preinstalled in Ford vehicles from 2023 onward. Ford CEO Jim Farley said that the search giant wants to “reinvent” the automobile and make it a portable office with even more connectivity than a phone or laptop.

Google train (Alex Wong /Getty)

Jeff Bezos at Blue Origin press event ( Joe Raedle /Getty)

Farley told CNBC: “We were spending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions every year, keeping up with basically a generic experience that was not competitive to your cellphone.” But while many are excited for the future of vehicle tech, many are worrying that tech firms will start tying their exclusive operating systems to specific products in an effort to force out competitors.

Politico reports:

Indeed, the smartphone wars are over, and Google and Apple won. Now they — and Amazon — are battling to control how you operate within your car. All three see autos as the next great opportunity to reach American consumers, who spend more time in the driver’s seat than anywhere outside their home or workplace. And automakers, after years of floundering to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into cars on their own, are increasingly eager for Silicon Valley’s help — hoping to adopt both its tech and its lucrative business models where consumers pay monthly for ongoing services instead of shelling out for a product just once.

Now, having missed the boat as the tech giants cornered the market on smartphones, some policymakers and regulators believe the battle over connected cars represents a chance to block potential monopolies before they form.

State attorneys general who sued Google in 2020 for monopolizing online search highlighted concerns about the company’s move into autonomous cars in their federal antitrust complaint. Meanwhile, in Europe, the EU’s competition authority has opened a probe into Google’s contracts related to connected cars.

Charlotte Slaiman, competition policy director for Public Knowledge, commented on the situation stating: “It’s really hard to remedy anticompetitive conduct five or 10 years down the line. For many consumers, buying a car is a long-term decision. If a consumer is going to be locked into services with a certain company because they bought a car that they are going to use for five to 10 years, that can make competition more difficult.”

Jim Heffner, a vice president at Cox Automotive Mobility, commented: “The ride is no longer the point. Data is the cornerstone. … Apple and Google and others want to be at the epicenter of that.”