Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has urged Congress to consider breaking up major technology companies like Apple following announcements that the company may raise prices on its phones and laptops due to processing chip shortages.
Fox News reports that the New York Democrat expressed concern over the growing power of large technology corporations, arguing that companies like Apple have become too influential and should face stricter regulation and potential restructuring. Her comments come as the tech industry grapples with supply chain constraints and increased demand for processing chips driven by the AI boom.
“We need to break up a lot of these companies that are far, far too big and we need to be instituting consumer protections for people,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She further criticized the corporate structure of major tech firms, stating, “The problem that we have is that these big companies think they are governments. They want to be governments. They want to have totally unchecked power.”
Breitbart News reported earlier this month that Apple plans price increases for a broad range of its popular laptops and other devices:
“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” Cook said. “We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”
The announcement marks a significant shift for Apple, which has historically used its purchasing power to secure favorable pricing from suppliers. Cook declined to provide specific details about the timing or magnitude of the planned increases, or which products would be affected. However, industry observers expect the changes could impact the anticipated iPhone 18 lineup expected in September, which is rumored to include a new foldable iPhone model. Price adjustments for Macs and iPads could occur even sooner, following Apple’s recent decision to raise the starting price of the Mac Mini between launch events.
For years, companies like Apple have dominated demand in the processing chip market, but the rapid expansion of AI has introduced new competition for these limited resources. AI companies now compete with traditional technology manufacturers for the same dwindling supply of processors, driving costs upward across the industry. This competition has created pressure on Apple’s profit margins and forced the company to consider passing these increased expenses to consumers through higher product prices.
Beyond addressing corporate power, Ocasio-Cortez emphasized the need for Congress to examine the broader costs associated with the AI race, particularly the energy demands of data centers. She suggested that existing legislation may be insufficient to address these emerging challenges.
The congresswoman also criticized what she views as government subsidization of AI infrastructure without adequate oversight or benefit to consumers. “We are subsidizing a lot of these pieces of these AI data centers,” Ocasio-Cortez said, suggesting that taxpayer money is supporting private industry expansion without corresponding consumer protections.
Breitbart News social media director and author Wynton Hall predicted a techno-populist turn by the Democrat party leading into the 2026 midterm elections. As Hall explained, the Democrat strategy AOC is embracing has three components:
- Convince Americans that mass AI job loss is inevitable.
- Channel that fear and ennui into galvanizing support for Universal Basic Income (UBI) redistribution in the long-term.
- Co-opt populist concerns over AI data centers driving up electricity and water bills for everyday Americans in the short-term.
As leftist politicians like AOC attempt to subvert the techno-populist message, it is crucial that the MAGA movement creative effective polities on AI not only for the nation, but for their own family. Wynton Hall has written his instant bestseller Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world.
Read more at Fox News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.