By Nicholas Riccardi
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Like many people in the tech industry, Jeremy Lions considered him a relatively non-political man.
He has been at the demonstrations up until now on the opening day of Donald Trump’s first presidential term, joining fellow Google workers leaving the company’s Silicon Valley campus to protest immigration restrictions. Google co-founders and its chief executives participated.
Last weekend was Lyon’s second over Trump, but he had a very different sense of it.
The man who oversees thousands of marchers with bulls in downtown San Jose on April 5 was another technician who refused to give him a full name for fear of being identified by Trump supporters. Marcher was urged not to harass the drivers of Tesla vehicles, which have moved from Silicon Valley’s environmental futurist icon to a pro-truding icon. And there were no tech executives anywhere after several people joined Trump at the inauguration ceremony in January.
For the 54-year-old Lions, the change has said a lot about what has happened to Silicon Valley over the past quarter century.
“One thing I saw back then was moving from nerdy utopia to money first, moving fast and breaking things,” Lions said.
Connie Chu, right and Aggie Goltiau to the left sings of protest at a rally against President Donald Trump of San Jose, California and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as part of the National Action Day on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
As part of the National Action Day on Saturday, April 5th, 2025, protesters gather against President Donald Trump of San Jose, California and Tesla CEO Elon Musk (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)
Tesla vehicles will drive past demonstrators on Saturday, April 5, 2025, during a rally between President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk of San Jose, California. I protest. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)
Michel Palbourg will protest “Hands-Off!” across the country at a rally between San Jose, California President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)
Protesters will meet on Saturday, April 5, 2025 against President Donald Trump of San Jose, California and Tesla CEO Elon Musk to protest “Hands-Off!” across the country. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)
Protesters will sing songs of protest at a rally against President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk of San Jose, California, as part of National Action Day on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
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Connie Chu, right and Aggie Goltiau to the left sings of protest at a rally against President Donald Trump of San Jose, California and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, as part of the National Action Day on Saturday, April 5, 2025.
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Political gaps between technology leaders and their workforce
The political loyalty of the tech industry remains divided. But as some people in the upper class of Silicon Valley have begun to shift politically appropriately, many of the daily workers in the tech industry remain liberal, yet increasingly tense and disillusioned. Their mood is in stark contrast to well-known technical leaders who embraced the ideology of conservative populist people.
“I think there’s a real gap between the leadership elite in Silicon Valley and its workforce,” said Anne Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics at Santa Clara University’s Institute of Ethics and a longtime industry observer.
“This shift wasn’t for many people,” said Renee Siegel, former mayor of Mountain View and a longtime liberal activist in the Valley. “It was a handful of people who attracted attention.”
The biggest example is Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person and CEO of the world’s most famous electric car company. Musk is joined by several tech billionaires, including David Sachs, an investor who helped raise funds for Trump’s campaign, became the White House artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency emperor and venture capitalist Mark Andrezen. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington.
Zuckerberg began to praise Trump after his candy date at the time, threatening to jail him last summer by guiding Zuckerberg towards his local elections office during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Zuckerberg also contributed $1 million to the President’s Inaugural Fund and co-hosted an inauguration reception for billionaire Republican donors.
Trump has filled many posts in his administration with billionaires, and with his support from wealthy technical leaders, Democratic President Joe Biden warned that the United States is at risk of becoming an elite-controlled Oliver. During Trump’s first term, Tani and his leaders were a breakwater of resistance against Republicans, particularly immigrants.
Contrary to that background, thousands of people attended a recent rally in downtown San Jose Park, protesting Trump and Musk’s actions.
Even as the tech industry changes, Silicon Valley is on the rise
Santa Clara County, which is made up of most Silicon Valley, shook 8 percent points against Trump against Democrat Kamala Harris in the November election, coinciding with California’s shift. Even with that swing, the county remains a democratic hub, voting 68% to 28% against the then president.
“We’re still on the belly of the beast,” said Dave Johnson, the new executive director of Santa Clara GOP. “If the lake is frozen, there’s a bit of a sparkle on top. I’m not saying there’s a crack in the ice.”
Tani has long been a Democrat, but there is an extraordinary political mix. A belief in the ability to solve world problems, coupled with a contradictory mix of libertarian individualism, Bay Area activities and belief in science capabilities.
That continues even as the tech industry changes.
The tech boom was driven by crude startups that cater to workers’ dreams of changing the world for the better. Google’s motto was “Don’t Be Evil.” This is a phrase that was removed from the Code of Conduct by 2018, when other companies such as Facebook and Instagram owned Meta grew into multinational giants. Companies have been laying off in recent years, and there was a shock for the industry that seemed poised for unlimited growth some time ago.
Entrepreneurs once dreamed of building a world-changing startup, said Jan English Rueck, a professor at San Jose State University who has studied Silicon Valley culture for over 20 years.
“Now,” she said. “If you’re part of a startup, you want you to be absorbed in a profitable way.”
Frustrated among some of the tech industry about where it is heading
Even before some prominent technical leaders shifted to Trump, there was growing frustration among parts of the industry beyond that direction. Idarose Sylvester runs a business that promotes a Silicon Valley-style approach to entrepreneurs from other countries.
“I’m feeling sick now in my stomach,” she said.
Sylvester was already disillusioned with the growing inequality in the valley and the environmental costs of all the energy needed to power crypto, AI, and data centers. She took part in the protest against Trump in 2017, but after losing the 2020 election to Biden, she felt the energy was gone.
“We saw a lot of people get out of politics after Biden won, and it all felt fine,” Sylvester said. “It wasn’t all okay.”
It’s even worse now, she said. She helped organize one of several demonstrations throughout the valley last weekend during a national day of protests against the new administration.
At first glance, what’s in downtown San Jose might have been the typical anti-Trump protest everywhere. A large crowd of mostly middle-aged and elderly people carried signs against the president and musk, chanting against the oligarchs.
But it was clearly a Silicon Valley crowd, shaking from Trump’s challenges to the country’s checking and balancing system, as well as the actions of the top executives in the valley.
“All money has been shifting to wealthy people, and that’s what I’m afraid of,” said Diane Wood, who works at a startup. “Unfortunately, you have Zuckerberg and Elon Mars of the world who are taking over it.”
“Just come here and everyone says they’ll turn off your phone’s face recognition,” Wood added. “We’re all scared.”
Kamal Ali, who works at AI, said she felt betrayed by the shift.
“The trust is broken. Many employees are very upset about what’s going on,” he said. “It’s going to be different forever.”
Associated Press writer Sarah Parvini and video journalist Haven Daley contributed to the report.
Original issue: April 14th, 2025, 12:54pm EDT
