Google—Google executive Kent Walker personally lobbied to defeat California SB 1074 self-preferencing bill alongside Apple
Google executive Kent Walker personally lobbied against California SB 1074 (the 'BASED Act'), coordinating with Apple to defeat the bill in a 3-3 tie vote on April 20, 2026. The bill would have banned self-preferencing by platforms owned by companies worth over $1 trillion. Five trade groups including Chamber of Progress (whose members include Google) issued coordinated opposition 'within minutes' of introduction.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antitrust & Competition | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Regulatory Capture | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.858 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Bloomberg reported Google executive Kent Walker personally lobbied to defeat California SB 1074
Bloomberg reported Google and Apple crushed California's self-preferencing bill in a 3-3 tie vote. Google executive Kent Walker personally lobbied against the bill. Chamber of Progress, whose members include Google, issued coordinated opposition.