The backlash against Big Tech gathers pace
China's regulators have proposed new anti-monopoly guidelines that could hit tech giants Alibaba and Tencent. Could the US be next to join in?

The Big Tech backlash has come to China, says Jacky Wong in The Wall Street Journal. Regulators recently suspended Ant Group’s $37bn stockmarket flotation at short notice. Now they have proposed new anti-monopoly guidelines that could hit Alibaba and Tencent, the internet giants whose social-media apps and payment and e-commerce platforms dominate daily life in China.
The news rocked Chinese tech shares, says Megha Bahree on Al Jazeera. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Technology index retreated by 11% over two days last week. China has previously taken a largely “hands-off” approach towards its domestic tech titans, but Covid-19 has made the issue of market concentration unavoidable. E-commerce accounted for roughly one-quarter of sales in China last year, but that figure is “edging towards 30%” due to the pandemic.
The draft rules would ban such practices as “selling goods below cost… and exclusive sales agreements”, says Nikki Sun in Nikkei Asia. Regulators are also concerned about the rise of online loans, which are not subject to normal bank regulations. The move “strikes at the heart” of a business model that depends upon walled technology ecosystems and “scale economies”, says a Gavekal Dragonomics note.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
The new safe haven?
US Big Tech has so far received less regulatory pushback, says David Goldman in the Asia Times. The share of the five biggest tech players on the S&P 500 by market capitalisation has doubled over the past decade to 22%. Microsoft, Google and Apple collectively have one-fifth of all the cash held by companies on the index. Some 70% of “all digital advertising revenue…goes to Facebook and Google”. Indeed, so dependable are these revenue streams that the tech giants now “trade the way utilities used to”, closely tracking movements in bond yields.
The prospect of more regulation has been a “dark cloud lingering over the tech sector”, Daniel Ives of Wedbush told Teresa Rivas in Barron’s. Yet the US election results may deliver a “goldilocks scenario” for tech, with a gridlocked Congress unable to agree on antitrust measures. Biden is also likely to stabilise relations with China, helping firms such as Apple whose supply chains are “caught in the crossfire”.
In recent years successful investment performance has boiled down to buying and holding “popular technology names” and watching them soar, says Michael Mackenzie in the Financial Times. Yet it is value stocks that have been shining of late. Nevertheless, investors will continue to put a premium on the tech sector’s superior growth prospects and strong cash flow, which give it defensive characteristics, says Jim Paulsen of Leuthold Group. “Tech will underperform, it will not crater.”
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019.
Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere.
He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful.
Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.
-
What is a trust – and should you use it to avoid inheritance tax?
Trusts are surging in popularity as a way to avoid inheritance tax, according to financial advisers on the frontline of estate planning. We look at what trusts are and if they are right for you.
-
What will be the consequences of Donald Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill"?
The US president’s "One Big Beautiful Bill", an extraordinary mix of tax cuts and spending plans, has made it through both houses of the US Congress. What will be the consequences?
-
Cybersecurity stocks: why now might be the time to buy
Cyber attacks can cost companies millions. Here’s how to invest in the firms fighting back and profit from cybersecurity
-
AJ Bell: a fine British fintech going cheap
Opinion Don’t overlook investment platform AJ Bell, a significantly undervalued British business with an excellent financial base
-
Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI is on the rocks
Microsoft’s joint venture with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, appears to be in trouble. What now for the two groups?
-
Carson Block on short-selling and what investors should watch out for when going long
Interview Renowned short seller Carson Block talks to Matthew Partridge about his specialism and where to go long
-
Investors can buy into tomorrow’s top global technology stocks today
Opinion Anthony Ginsberg, manager of HAN-GINS Tech Megatrend Equal Weight UCITS ETF, highlights three technology stocks as he tells us where he'd put his money
-
Drinks maker Diageo gets back on its feet – should you invest?
Diageo has faced one disaster after another over the past two years. Is it finally time to buy?
-
Halma reaches new all-time high
Profits at Halma, one of Britain’s best blue chips, have hit a new record. But could US tariffs now cloud the outlook?
-
Airtel Africa is dialling the right numbers – should you buy?
Opinion Mobile phone services group Airtel Africa is inexpensive and growing fast