Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has no plans to run for US Presidential elections

  25 Jan 2017 , 11:45

Shelving rumours surrounding his plans to run for the US presidency, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has insisted that for now he has no such intentions, saying he would continue to work to grow his company. For now, he said he would continue working on growing his company as well as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) – the corporation he and wife Priscilla built which makes investments in scientific and leadership research.

According to Buzzfeed, Zuckerberg responded with a “No” when he was asked if he had any plans to run for president. “I am focused on building our community at Facebook and working on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,” he was quoted as saying on Tuesday. A source said that the Facebook founder has privately denied it as well.

“There’s absolutely no truth to the idea that Mark is running for office and I’ve heard it directly from him,” the source was quoted as saying. “Here’s the thing: For Mark, Facebook is global community that already plays this huge part in the lives of billions of people around the world and plays an incredibly important role in shaping the base on the issues that matter,” the source added.

IANS

Internet Companies write a letter to Trump asking support for encryption and immigration reform

Image Credit: REUTERS

  15 Nov 2016 , 10:32

U.S. internet companies including Facebook Inc and Amazon Inc have sent President-elect Donald Trump a detailed list of their policy priorities, which includes promoting strong encryption, immigration reform and maintaining liability protections from content that users share on their platforms.

The letter sent on Monday by the Internet Association, a trade group whose 40 members also include Alphabet’s Google, Uber and Twitter, represents an early effort to repair the relationship between the technology sector and Trump, who was almost universally disliked and at times denounced in Silicon Valley during the presidential campaign. “The internet industry looks forward to engaging in an open and productive dialogue,” reads the letter, signed by Michael Beckerman, president of the Internet Association, and seen by Reuters.

Some of the policy goals stated in the letter may align with Trump’s priorities, including easing regulation on the sharing economy, lowering taxes on profits made from intellectual property and applying pressure on Europe to not erect too many barriers that restrict U.S. internet companies from growing in that market. Other goals are likely to clash with Trump, who offered numerous broadsides against the tech sector during his campaign.

They include supporting strong encryption in products against efforts by law enforcement agencies to mandate access to data for criminal investigations, upholding recent reforms to U.S. government surveillance programs that ended the bulk collection of call data by the National Security Agency, and maintaining net neutrality rules that require internet service providers to treat web traffic equally.

The association seeks immigration reform to support more high-skilled workers staying in the United States. Though Trump made tougher immigration policies a central theme of his campaign, he has at times shied away from arguing against more H-1B visas for skilled workers, saying in a March debate he was “softening the position because we need to have talented people in this country.”

While urging support for trade agreements, the letter does not mention the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Trump has repeatedly assailed with claims it was poorly negotiated and would take jobs away from U.S. workers. The technology sector supported the deal, but members of Congress have conceded since the election it is not going to be enacted.

Trump’s often-shifting policy proposals on the campaign trail frequently alarmed tech companies and sometimes elicited public mockery, such as when Trump called for closing off parts of the internet to limit militant Islamist propaganda.

Reuters

Why I think Donald Trump could make Silicon Valley even greater

Image: Reuters

  11 Nov 2016 , 10:21

By Vishal Gondal

The improbable has truly happened. Donald Trump is going to be the President of the Unites States of America. I have never seen such widely divided opinions or stance against any elected representative in modern politics.

Although the world might truly be in a state of shock, if you ask people around me, they will tell you that I predicted the improbable way back when he was chosen as the Republican nominee. Well the thing is, coming from a startup background I have seen quite a few Davids vs Goliaths in my lifetime.

I have seen this in the Silicon Valley itself where the new innovators and thinkers have overthrown the established order against all odds.

We call this disruption. And when used in a very positive connotation, it is nothing but a byproduct of innovation. Trump said many things good and bad but in essence Trump spoke a lot about disrupting the established order – creating jobs, bringing back the industries and that has resonated with a lot of Americans.

They wanted change and Trump showed them a path towards it. While most failed to see or predict what the public wanted, this landmark judgement will force them to look inwards, ask questions and come up with answers. A lot of folks have started predicting doom for America and how it may lose its edge, talks of California separating from USA.

I have spent a lot of time Silicon Valley and I can tell you that this judgement will not be bad given how smart and resilient the people of America are. Every dark cloud has a silver lining and I see a lot of new startups focused on areas of healthcare, manufacturing, security, infrastructure, fin-tech getting a major boost from the Trump administration and its policies.

If there is anyone who has the license to distrust the system it’s Donald Trump. The same goes for India and Indians living in the United States. Indian software companies who have been traditionally focused on software services will be forced to look at products and IP based solution.

This shift from services to product will benefit both startup ecosystems of America & India and many of these companies will be looking at investments & acquisitions. I believe the trade relations between the two largest democracies will strengthen leading to a powerful alliance owing to the geopolitical scenarios and rapid industrialisation in India.

Most Indians living in the US are small business owners or white collar workers and they will have a greater role to play in this changing landscape as both of them will be focused on creating more jobs and more value. To conclude, while Trump may not be perfect, in his quest to make America great again a lot of that greatness will rub off on the people dealing with America.

The author is CEO, GOQii.