MANILA, Philippines – Epic Games CEO and cofounder Tim Sweeney slammed the executives of big tech firms who are attempting to appease or gain the good graces of US president-elect Donald Trump.

In a post on X on Saturday, January 11, Sweeney wrote, “After years of pretending to be Democrats, Big Tech leaders are now pretending to be Republicans, in hopes of currying favor with the new administration. Beware of the scummy monopoly campaign to vilify competition law as they rip off consumers and crush competitors.”

Sweeney’s statement on X follows his ongoing battles with Google and Apple over the distribution of Epic Games’ apps on their smartphones, where Epic seeks to be able to sell and offer its games on Google and Apple phones without the need to go through the respective storefronts and payment processing systems of the two tech giants.

Epic Games is known for the massively popular Fortnite series, and before that, the Unreal and Gears of War series.

His remarks come on the heels of numerous tech companies — which include Google, Apple, Amazon, NVIDIA, and Meta Platforms — making donations to Trump’s inauguration or otherwise shifting their allegiances in the current US political climate to their benefit.

Sweeney’s statements also come after Trump himself noted how the winds of support were shifting in his favor. Back in December, Trump remarked how, “The first term, everybody was fighting me. In this term, everybody wants to be my friend.”

A Techspot report noted such moves may translate into softer touches for big tech companies seeking more favorable reception to their legal cases, or other deals besides.

Recently, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg ended the fact-checking program in the US in favor of a crowdsourced type of fact-checking similar to what is found on X, a platform owned by Trump ally Elon Musk. – Rappler.com

Must Read

[Tech Thoughts] Fact checkers wade through the muck so you don’t drown in it