įormer Google CEO Eric Schmidt, author Phil Simon, and NYU professor Scott Galloway have each grouped these four companies together, on the basis that they have driven major social change through their dominant role in online activity. The GAMA were known as GAFA before Facebook rebranded to Meta in 2021.
They have also been referred to as "The Four", the "Gang of Four", and the "Four Horsemen". Google (Alphabet), Amazon, Facebook (Meta), and Apple are commonly referred to as the Big Four or GAMA. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, may be represented by "G" in these acronyms, while Meta Platforms, the rebranding of Facebook, Inc., may be represented by "F". The Big Four or Five tech companies are often referred to by the following names or acronyms. Big Four/Five īig Five logos: Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. It is also similar to how, at the turn of the 21st century, the mainstream media became dominated by a small number of corporations called "Big Media" or the "Media Giants". The term "Big Tech" is similar to how the largest oil companies were called " Big Oil" following the 1970s energy crisis, or the largest cigarette producers were called " Big Tobacco", as the United States Congress sought to regulate those industries. The term "Big Tech" became popular around 2017, following the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, as the role these technology companies played with access to a large amount of user data (" big data") and ability to influence their users came under Congressional review. After the late-1990s dot-com bubble wiped out most of the Nasdaq Composite stock market index, surviving technology companies expanded their market share and could no longer be considered startups. The term "Big Tech" began to appear in media reports around 2013, as some economists saw signs of these companies becoming dominant with little regulation. Dominant companies like IBM and Microsoft were the 20th century equivalent to Big Tech. Big Tech can also refer to smaller tech companies with high valuations, or non-tech companies with high-tech practices such as the automaker Tesla. Globally, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi (" BATX") are the Chinese equivalent of the Big Five, and are sometimes included in the definition of Big Tech. Morgan in investment banking, the Big Three consulting firms, Big Oil, and Big Media. The concept of Big Tech is analogous to the consolidation of market dominance by a few companies in other market sectors such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and J.P. In 2019, John Naughton wrote in The Guardian that "it's almost impossible to function without the big five tech giants." Commentators have questioned the impact of these companies on privacy, market power, freedom of speech, censorship, national security, and law enforcement. Concerns over monopolistic practices have led to antitrust investigations from the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission in the United States, and the European Commission. They serve billions of users, and are able to influence user behavior and control large amounts of user data. As such, they have been criticized for creating a new economic order called " surveillance capitalism".
The Big Five are powerful corporations in structural and relational terms. The Big Tech companies are considered among the most prestigious employers in the world. By May 2023, Amazon recrossed the $1 trillion market valuation threshold. In December 2021 and November 2022 respectively, Meta and Amazon fell below their trillion dollar valuations, while in March 2023, Apple and Microsoft alone accounted for 13 percent of the S&P 500. In August 2020, the Big Five accounted for nearly a quarter of the S&P 500. They are among the most valuable public companies, having had a maximum market capitalization from around 1 to above 3 trillion U.S. The Big Five are dominant players in their respective areas of technology: artificial intelligence, cloud computing, consumer electronics, e-commerce, home automation, online advertising, self-driving cars, social networking, software, and streaming media. These companies are referred to as the Big Five. Big Tech, also known as the Tech Giants, refers to the most dominant companies in the information technology industry, notably the five largest American tech companies: Alphabet ( Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta ( Facebook), and Microsoft.
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