Apple CEO Tim Cook made a personal donation of $1 million to Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration fund. This was a personal contribution from Cook, not a corporate donation from Apple.
Activity
Incidents and actions from tracked entities.
Microsoft under Satya Nadella removed diversity and inclusion from employee performance evaluations (ending a 5-year practice), laid off the DEI team in July 2024, and discontinued the annual diversity report in 2025. This reversed Nadella's 2020 pledge of $150M for D&I and a commitment to double Black senior leadership by 2025.
Won Company of the Year at British Diversity Awards with 50% women on board and exec committee
Jan 1, 2025Monzo achieved 50% women representation on its board (66.6% women) and executive committee (33.3% women). The median gender pay gap narrowed from 14.3% in 2020 to 6.3% in 2024. Monzo became the first UK bank to introduce dedicated paid leave for pregnancy loss and fertility treatments. Won Company of the Year at the 2025 British Diversity Awards.
Unlike many tech companies that rolled back DEI programs in 2024-2025, Airbnb maintained its diversity commitments. The company's 2025 goals include 20% underrepresented minorities in US workforce and 50% women globally. A portion of executive team compensation is tied to diversity performance. Airbnb.org committed that by end of 2025, at least 33% of US workers will be underrepresented minorities.
AWS serves as the primary cloud infrastructure for DHS and ICE, hosting the Palantir-designed Investigative Case Management system used for deportation targeting, biometric data for 230 million individuals, and at least 62% of CBP's systems. Palantir pays AWS approximately $600,000/month. Employee protests dating to 2018 have called for ending ICE contracts.
PayPal donated $250,000 to Trump's 2025 Presidential Inaugural Committee, contributing to the record $251.4 million raised for the inauguration.
In 2025, Joe Gebbia donated $1 million to the gubernatorial campaign of Greg Abbott. Gebbia has said his politics have shifted toward the Republican Party over time. In the 2024 presidential election, he voted for Donald Trump, despite donating $20,000 to Biden's re-election bid in 2023.
Announced stepping back from SF politics to focus on engaging with Trump administration
Jan 1, 2025Tan announced he was stepping back from local San Francisco political group GrowSF to 'focus on DC this year.' In interviews, he praised Trump's antitrust picks and expressed hope that J.D. Vance would have 'a really deep influence on what the Trump Administration does.'
In 2025, Sony Interactive Entertainment received a 100/100 score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Corporate Equality Index, being named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ equality. Sony maintained its employee resource networks including Pride@PlayStation and expanded DEI specialist hiring, while many other tech companies rolled back DEI initiatives.
Tencent filed legal action against FreeWeChat, a website that archives censored WeChat content to preserve deleted posts and expose censorship patterns. The lawsuit seeks to shut down the service, which researchers and journalists have used to document Tencent's content moderation practices and preserve information that would otherwise be permanently removed.
Tencent implemented a mandatory 6PM clock-out policy, requiring employees to leave the office by 6PM on Wednesdays. This represents a significant shift away from the '996' culture (9am-9pm, 6 days a week) that has been endemic in Chinese tech. The policy came after Chinese courts ruled 996 schedules illegal and following increased government pressure on tech companies to improve working conditions.
Microsoft laid off over 15,000 employees in 2025 amid record revenues and AI expansion
Jan 1, 2025 — Dec 31, 2025Under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft laid off over 15,000 people in 2025 while recording record revenues and profits for its fiscal year ending June 2025, citing AI-driven restructuring. The layoffs occurred as the company invested heavily in AI infrastructure and partnerships.
In January 2025, Samsung agreed to recognize an independent workers' union at its Chennai, India factory following a month-long strike by over 1,000 workers. The workers had demanded union recognition, higher wages, and better working conditions. The resolution marked a shift from Samsung's historically anti-union stance.
Samsung Electronics donated $315,000 to Donald Trump's 2025 presidential inauguration fund. The donation was part of broader tech industry contributions to the incoming administration, though notably smaller than the $1M+ donations from US tech giants.
Received $48.6M+ in ICE contracts since 2008 for immigrant device searches, including $11M in 2025
Jan 1, 2025Between 2008 and April 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded Cellebrite at least 213 contracts worth over $48.6 million for UFED phone extraction technology. A new $11 million contract was signed in 2025. CBP uses Cellebrite to perform warrantless searches at the border. The ACLU filed suit in 2017 claiming searches violated First and Fourth Amendment rights.
Maintains closed-source proprietary model, not releasing code, training data, or architecture
Jan 1, 2025Claude is not open source - source code, training datasets, and detailed architecture are not publicly available. Critics note contradiction between touting societal benefits while not open-sourcing most powerful models.
Launched Transparency Hub publishing reports on banned accounts, appeals, and government requests
Jan 1, 2025Launched Anthropic's Transparency Hub with periodic reports on banned accounts, account appeals, appeal overturns, NCMEC reports, and government request data.
Amazon building 1,200-acre data center complex in Indiana for Anthropic's AI (30 buildings, 2.2 GW capacity). Three-quarters of the new power plants will be fueled by natural gas. Anthropic advocated for US to build additional 50 GW of dedicated power by 2027.
Only frontier AI company to restrict sales to PRC-controlled companies, forgoing revenue
Jan 1, 2025Anthropic is the only frontier AI company to restrict selling AI services to PRC-controlled companies, forgoing significant short-term revenue. At Davos 2026, Amodei likened U.S. allowing Nvidia to sell advanced chips to China as 'selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.'
Claimed 'truly progressive position on immigration is extreme skepticism' while defending Trump-era ICE expansion
Jan 1, 2025In 2024-2025, Alex Karp dramatically shifted his rhetoric on immigration, claiming that 'the truly progressive position on immigration is extreme skepticism.' He defended Palantir's expanded ICE work under Trump's second term, including the $30M ImmigrationOS contract, saying the 2024 election signaled Americans 'wanted to keep the demographics of the country the same way.'
Apple achieved perfect 100% score on HRC Corporate Equality Index for 18th consecutive year
Jan 1, 2025Apple has received a score of 100% every year on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index across all 18 years of the report's existence. The company maintains 25,000+ employees in Diversity Network Associations including Pride@Apple, which partnered with Point of Pride to support transgender employees. Apple also signed an HRC letter opposing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation alongside 39 other companies.
Starlink satellites significantly degrade astronomical observations, affecting 30% of telescope images
Jan 1, 2025SpaceX's Starlink constellation has caused substantial interference with ground-based astronomical observations. Studies show approximately 30% of twilight telescope images are now affected by satellite streaks. Gen-2 Starlink satellites emit radio signals 32 times stronger than Gen-1, severely impacting radio astronomy. The International Astronomical Union has repeatedly called for regulatory action, and observatories worldwide report degraded data quality for both optical and radio astronomy research.
Used dispatch workers for 50% of iPhone 17 production workforce, 5 times the legal 10% limit, denying benefits and protections
Jan 1, 2025China Labour Bulletin investigation in January 2025 found Foxconn's Zhengzhou iPhone factory employed dispatch workers (temporary contractors) for approximately 50% of the workforce producing iPhone 17, violating China's 10% legal limit. Dispatch workers receive lower wages, no benefits (housing, insurance, bonuses), and can be dismissed without cause. This practice allows Foxconn to avoid permanent employment obligations and suppress organizing.
Achieved carbon net neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025, targeting full value chain net-zero by 2040
Jan 1, 2025ASML achieved carbon net neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025 with a 90% reduction from 2019 baseline, meeting Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) commitments. The company set ambitious long-term goals: greenhouse gas neutrality across entire value chain by 2040 and zero waste to landfill/incineration by 2030. Currently manages 86% of 8,900 tonnes annual waste sustainably through recycling and waste-to-energy. In 2024, ASML innovatively shipped DUV system via sea instead of air, demonstrating ESG integration across operations.
John Collison co-authored Stripe annual letter criticizing EU regulation including GDPR for stifling innovation
Jan 1, 2025In Stripe's 2025 annual letter, co-authored with brother Patrick, John Collison called for regulatory, capital markets, and labor reforms to revive European prosperity. He criticized European regulations like GDPR for imposing disproportionate compliance costs on small firms that favor large incumbents, and argued Ireland's proliferation of 303 unaccountable agencies since 2000 has stalled infrastructure and housing.
Exceeded 30x energy efficiency goal by achieving 38.5x improvement, cutting AI training energy use by 97%
Jan 1, 2025In 2025, AMD announced it exceeded its ambitious 30x25 goal to increase energy efficiency of AI-training and HPC nodes by 30x from 2020 to 2025. The actual achievement was a 38.5x improvement in node-level energy efficiency for AI training and high-performance computing - cutting energy use by 97% for the same performance using AMD Instinct MI350 Series GPUs and 5th Gen AMD EPYC CPUs. AMD set a new 2030 goal to deliver a 20x increase in rack-scale energy efficiency from a 2024 base year, demonstrating continued commitment to reducing computing's environmental footprint.
ASML Junior Academy reached 125,000 children with free STEM education program across 500 schools
Jan 1, 2025The ASML Junior Academy, launched in 2022 in collaboration with Mad Science, achieved a major milestone in 2025 with 500 schools in the Veldhoven region participating. The program provides free STEM education to 125,000 children within a 35-kilometer radius of Veldhoven, Netherlands, and Wilton, United States. Each class receives six workshops annually (75 different workshop types available), with five led by Mad Science staff and one by an ASML employee when possible. The program aims to improve quality and accessibility of STEM education for all children.
Published Climate Transition Plan committing to net-zero emissions across entire value chain by 2050
Jan 1, 2025In 2025, AMD published its Climate Transition Plan (CTP) with governance, strategies and action plans to support decarbonization efforts across products, operations and supply chain. The company committed to achieving full net-zero emissions throughout its entire value chain by 2050, with interim targets set for 2030: 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and 25% reduction in Scope 3 emissions from 2020 baseline. AMD's chiplet architecture saved approximately 132,000 metric tons of CO2e in 2023 - 2.8x AMD's annual operational footprint.
Collapsed in January 2025 leaving hundreds of workers, consultants, and vendors unpaid after laying off 75% of staff
Jan 1, 2025Dunzo, Google's first direct Indian startup investment (2017), shut down in January 2025 after catastrophic mismanagement left hundreds unpaid. By late 2024, Dunzo laid off 75%+ of staff (from 800+ to ~50 employees). Valuation crashed from peak to ₹300 crore as Reliance wrote off ₹1,645 crore ($200M) investment. Over 400 employees went unpaid through multiple rounds of delayed salaries. Naveen Meka (supply lead, laid off) wrote WhatsApp messages 'begging for unpaid wages so he could pay his children's school fees, but nothing came of it.' One employee laid off August 2024 is owed 250,000 rupees ($2,860) and has merchants reaching out on LinkedIn asking about back pay. Workers arriving for regular shifts were stopped at factory gates by security and informed of closure. Preceded by 2022 Bengaluru strike over incentive structure changes. Demonstrates pattern: rapid expansion funded by venture capital, exploitation of gig workers, catastrophic collapse leaving workers to bear consequences.
Following nationwide strikes by 200,000+ delivery workers over extreme low wages and dangerous conditions, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal dismissed worker concerns, stating Zomato delivered 'at a record pace' and was 'unaffected by calls for strikes,' crediting 'local law enforcement' for 'keeping small number of miscreants in check.' Goyal argued 'if a system were fundamentally unfair, it would not consistently attract and retain so many people.' Union leader Shaik Salauddin responded: 'CEO of Zomato is trying to save himself, at an organizational level he has come under pressure...even after repeated threats from CEOs, gig workers continued peaceful strikes resulting in delays in 60% of orders.' In January 2026, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya forced Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto to remove 10-minute delivery pledges - the strikers' primary demand. Zomato also terminates nearly 5,000 gig workers monthly for 'fraud' while 150,000-200,000 leave voluntarily.