How to Win Tech and Influence People

Last week, as President Donald Trump shared his long-awaited AI policy plan, a group of moderate Democrats passed around a counterstrategy hoping to whip their caucus back to the party of the future.

The self-styled “innovation agenda” comes from the New Democratic Coalition and has been in the works for months, first teased by California Rep. Sam Liccardo in an op-ed presenting the case for why his side of the aisle needed such a platform to “win back Silicon Valley tech leaders.”

Liccardo told Decoded that he consulted “a couple hundred” people in the Valley who gave him feedback upfront — from researchers and scientists to startup founders, company executives and venture capitalists — before crafting the set of proposals.

“What they felt they needed to see [was] an agenda, and obviously, I wanted to ensure it was aligned with Democratic values,” he said in an interview.

Its recommendations tap into core themes important to the Gov. Gavin Newsom brand of Democrat: pro-tech but still attentive to concerns about equity, labor and the environment.

Take AI policy, where the New Dems suggest Congress “regulate incrementally” by supporting transparency standards around how the technology is tested, like Anthropic and Newsom’s expert panel has advocated for, “rather than imposing licensing and registration mandates” or outright restricting model development.

(Trump’s AI action plan, on the other hand, got dismissed by Liccardo as “a lot of political fluff,” predicated on attacking wokeism without speaking to serious builders of the advanced technology.)

The agenda also offers a guide to fellow Democrats trying to navigate today’s political minefields, such as how they resist surrendering the cause of government efficiency to Republicans without recreating DOGE’s fall from grace. Where should the party be ready to cut red tape? And what steps can it take to tackle the housing and affordability crisis swallowing tech hot spots like San Francisco?

A former mayor of San Jose, Liccardo spoke to one key challenge of the moment — whether Democrats can pull off messaging his advice on issues like, say, government investment in far-off technological bets, without coming off as out-of-touch to a voter base that (at least, the New York mayor’s race shows) really just wants their everyday problems addressed.

The Trump White House, of course, has dealt with its fair share of playing peacekeeper between the tech and populist right.

“We need to demonstrate how innovation can help us reduce utility bills and build more housing and tackle health care costs, and we know there are innovative companies that are doing all of those things, if we can give them room,” he said.

Naturally, these debates have been ongoing among other electeds and political consultant types close to Silicon Valley. Many (looking at you, fellow Silicon Valley Dem Rep. Ro Khanna) quickly offered up their own theories following the election, which saw the industry’s most prominent executives first turn to support Trump with their wallets and now their time with endless CEO appearances at the White House.

But the platform isn’t about courting favor, as Liccardo tells it, despite the title of his op-ed: “I’m not asking the question, ‘how to win back Silicon Valley.’ I’m asking, ‘How can America win the 21st century?’”

That distinction becomes clearer when considering his view of the kind of tech voices that do reflect party values.

The California congressmember disproportionately spent his time with people who worked in venture and at smaller, emerging tech companies — “I felt they had the broadest view on what’s needed to unleash potential” — and warned Democrats not to “only give weight to those who come in with the largest campaign contributions.”

It hasn’t been all low-key leaders, though. Liccardo said he’s also met with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who on July 4 declared himself “politically homeless,” and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang in the last couple of weeks.

One person he didn’t consult: Mark Zuckerberg. “This agenda is about empowering innovators, not oligarchs,” he replied when Decoded asked why not.

What he’s heard from those conversations is the tide of industry complaints that plagued former President Joe Biden starting to wash over Trump. In one encounter, he said biotech leaders expressed deep angst about the new administration’s threats to cut funding at the National Institutes of Health and key research institutions.

“I heard several of them say this is going to take a generation or more to repair, and many of those same folks were frustrated that many of their brightest employees were reconsidering whether they wanted to stay,” Liccardo said. “The gripes against both administrations are quite real, and in many cases, accurate.”

As the record shows, those personal relationships have been just as influential as making the right policy appeals. Elon Musk felt snubbed by Tesla’s notable exclusion from a Biden White House event, which contributed to his break with the Democratic Party. Huang is surely soaking it up when administration officials echo his argument about “exporting the American tech stack” in TV appearances.

Liccardo declined to put on his pundit hat but noted that several candidates have been out to the Valley and hearing out interests — the “minimum,” he said, of what needs to happen.

“It’s not a secret that, in addition to substance, style matters,” Liccardo said. “Some tech bashing may be appropriate, but the important lesson for every elected official is seek first to understand, and part of what my effort has been about in Silicon Valley is hosting Democratic leadership and communication with tech leaders to restart these conversations.”