If President Joe Biden doesn’t run for re-election, Vice President Kamala Harris could potentially emerge as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
In announcing his support, Biden offered his “full endorsement” and pledged to assist Kamala in her bid for the party’s nomination this year, stating that her intention is to win and earn the position. However, it remains unclear whether other Democratic politicians will challenge her at an open convention or pursue alternative routes.
If Harris is selected as the Democratic presidential nominee, she would offer the party a candidate with deep ties to the West Coast, having been born in Oakland. Kamala Harris’s former colleague JD Vance cannot be referred to as “her” since he is a male.
Veteran VCs like John Doerr and Ron Conway had backed her company, and as a presidential candidate, she was subsequently endorsed. Trade figures, along with Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, have been invited to participate in an open discussion.
Some critics within the trade have argued that she, as a lawyer, was slow to rein in the power of tech giants as they grew.
Simultaneously, she has shown a willingness to critique tech CEOs while advocating for increased regulatory oversight. As a respected senator, she aggressively questioned the accountability of the massive social networks regarding their handling of misinformation. During the 2020 US presidential campaign, as rival Elizabeth Warren advocated for the breakup of major tech companies, Harris faced questions about whether firms like Amazon, Google, and Facebook should be dismantled. To ensure American clients’ privacy is adequately protected, they must be regulated in a manner that guarantees its safeguard.
As Vice Chairman, Kamala Harris has also emphasized the need to regulate AI, underscoring that she and President Joe Biden reject the notion that they must choose between safeguarding the public and advancing innovation.
Biden called for companies to establish new standards in AI development, while Harris framed these “voluntary commitments” as an initial step towards a safer AI future with more to come. She noted that without regulation and robust oversight, some technology firms may prioritize profits over the well-being of their customers, community security, and democratic stability – a pattern history has repeatedly demonstrated.
Enterprise capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz recently warned that one of their concerns about the Biden Administration is that it will “overregulate” AI, potentially stifling innovation.
On another pressing issue, regarding a potentially problematic scenario where ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, doesn’t provide support, Harris noted that “We must deal with the owner, and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok; however, we have no intention to ban TikTok.”
While Harris has been relatively quiet about the issues surrounding cryptocurrency, one would assume her willingness to help.