Hello and welcome to the pro rata podcast, a podcast that takes 10 minutes to get you smarter, faster, on the collision of tech, business, and politics.

Filling in for Dan Primack, to whom I have granted a vacation, I'm Axios editor-in-chief Nicholas Johnston.

On today's show, the tech strategy behind Trump's re-election campaign kickoff and the Silicon

Valley CEOs with the highest ratings from their employees.

But first, big tech's changing tone.

The tech industry has long been accustomed to seizing the spotlight by unveiling big,

groundbreaking innovations.

But now it's consumed by new debate full of doubts and questions about its wares.

For example, last week was the annual Recode Code Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona,

one of the industry's highest profile gatherings.

In years past, tech executives announced their latest gadget or service in big celebratory unveilings,

but this year not a single product was launched.

Instead, speakers from big tech companies were pressed on what they were doing to fight hate and misinformation.

It was a big shift in years past, and it was happening because the conversation around tech is changing,

because in part more people are participating.

These dialogues have long been dominated by the companies themselves, while the rest of us just served as odd consumers,

hungry to snap up the latest gadget or app.

That's all changing now, with concerns over privacy breaches, tech's effect on democracy

and the impact of smartphones.

Politicians, pundits, and researchers aren't willing to cede the floor to CEOs and tech

visionaries anymore. And the new conversation includes privacy advocates, regulators,

elected officials, and consumer groups.

...