Big Tech prepares for change as Andrew Ferguson is picked to lead FTC

The news: President-elect Donald Trump chose Andrew Ferguson, a Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to lead the agency and replace Chair Lina Khan.

As an FTC commissioner, Ferguson has dissented from several of Khan’s regulatory efforts, including the ban on noncompete clauses and rules making it easier for consumers to cancel recurring subscriptions.

Tech regulation’s changing landscape: Ferguson aligns with Trump’s “America First” priorities and wants to roll back Khan’s efforts to regulate AI and reduce stringent standards on mergers, per The New York Times.

• These initiatives could signal a shift from consumer-focused and anticompetition policies to conservative-driven reforms.
• “Andrew will be the most America First and pro-innovation FTC chair in our country's history,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social app.

What this means for Big Tech: Khan’s previous efforts to curb monopolies and challenge mergers may fall behind. New leadership at the FTC could result in weaker antitrust oversight under the guise of enabling innovation. 

• The FTC could focus on loosening content moderation policies on social media platforms and investigate potential suppression of conservative speech.
• Political and party objectives could quickly deprioritize pro-competition and consumer protection mandates, resulting in an increase in Big Tech’s anticompetitive activity. 
• Big Tech companies might still face crackdowns—a possibility that has motivated Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg to try to get ahead of potential fallout.
• Other Big Tech CEOs similarly want to be on good terms with the incoming administration, which could be challenged by Elon Musk’s prominent position in Trump’s inner circle.

What’s next? Ferguson, as well as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appointee Brendan Carr, will need to be confirmed by the Senate—a process that could be prolonged given that Senate confirmations took an average of 192 days during Biden’s administration. That extended timeline could result in a period of regulatory uncertainty.

Key takeaway: 46% of US CEOs expect regulation to have the most impact from the new administration, per Deloitte and Fortune. Navigating unpredictable shifts in regulatory priorities could take a toll on expansion, mergers, and profits.

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