Silicon Valley too powerful, lost its moral compass
Many in Silicon Valley take a dim view of tech icons such as Google, Facebook
By ETHAN BARON | ebaron@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
UPDATED: October 7, 2024 at 1:55 p.m.
Illustration by Jeff Durham — Bay Area News Group
Alex Woods once expected the Silicon Valley technology industry and its world-changing innovations to lift up everyone in the Bay Area. Lately, though, as the region’s cost of living has soared, traffic has worsened, and homelessness and blight have spread, the 38-year-old customer-service representative’s views have changed.
“I felt like the tech industry would bring a lot of jobs and resources to the Bay Area as a whole,” said Woods, of East Palo Alto, who responded to the survey. “I thought they would do a lot more than they have done.”
Despite being the region’s economic engine, a new Bay Area poll by the Bay Area News Group and Joint Venture Silicon Valley found the tech industry is widely mistrusted, with hefty majorities of respondents believing major Silicon Valley companies wield too much power, are largely responsible for the region’s sky-high costs of housing and have lost their ability to tell right from wrong.
Among registered voters, 80% of those responding to the poll blamed Silicon Valley’s tech industry for driving up housing and living costs, and 75% said the industry had too much power and influence. Sixty-nine percent said Silicon Valley had lost its moral compass.
This article first appeared at SiliconValley.com on October 7, 2024.
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