Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter {beacon} Technology Technology   The Big Story  Big Tech reaches out to Trump ahead of Election Day The leaders of major technology companies are making overtures to former President Trump as Election Day nears and the Republican candidate appears in solid position in the final days of the race. © AP Photo/Alex Brandon Key figures in the tech world — from Apple’s Tim Cook to Google’s Sundar Pichai to Amazon’s Andy Jassy — have been making calls to the former president in recent weeks as they brace for a potential second Trump term.    Trump said last week that Pichai, who serves as Google’s CEO, called him after he worked a shift at a McDonald’s drive-thru earlier this month as part of a campaign photo op.    “I actually got a call from Sundar. Sundar, who’s great, from Google, he’s a great guy, very smart. The head of Google,” Trump told a crowd his supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.    “And he said, 'Sir, I just want to tell you, what you did with McDonald’s was one of the single biggest events we’ve ever had at Google,'” he added.    Google declined to comment on the call.   The former president also revealed earlier this month that Cook, Apple’s CEO, called him about concerns with the European Union, after the bloc’s top court ruled in September that the iPhone maker must pay nearly $15 billion in back taxes.    Much like with Pichai, Trump offered glowing remarks about Cook following his outreach.    “I believe that if Tim Cook didn’t run Apple, if Steve Jobs did, it wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is now. I think Tim Cook’s done an amazing job. And I’m not knocking Steve Jobs,” Trump said during an appearance on Patrick Bet-David’s podcast.    Amazon CEO Andy Jassy also reportedly had a phone call with the former president, according to CNN. Leaders of the Jeff Bezos-owned aerospace company Blue Origin also met with Trump last week.    The overtures from the tech world come as Trump’s chances of success appear to be growing. The former president is now slightly favored to win the election, according the The Hill-Decision Desk HQ forecast.    Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.   Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we're Julia Shapero and — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.   Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:   Mark Cuban: Trump’s Silicon Valley backers believe they can ‘manipulate’ him Investor and television personality Mark Cuban told The Hill on Tuesday the Silicon Valley leaders who are shifting to the right and backing former President Trump could be doing so with hopes of “manipulating” the former president on policy if he is reelected. Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks minority owner and “Shark Tank” judge, has emerged as one of Vice President Harris’s most visible surrogates, …  Full Story   Markey urges Meta to relaunch research initiative for 2024 election Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday urged Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to enable independent academic researchers to study the impact of its platforms on the 2024 election as it did during the last presidential election.  In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, the Massachusetts Democrat suggested that the tech giant “appears to have changed its mind on its commitment to transparency.”  …  Full Story   After viral ‘Chase glitch,’ JPMorgan sues customers over $661K in check fraud (NEXSTAR) — Multiple lawsuits have been filed against those who partook in a viral trend earlier this year that purportedly provided them with “unlimited” money from certain ATMs. Earlier this year, videos posted to social media showed people with large sums of cash they collected as part of a “glitch” with their Chase Bank accounts. Customers were able to deposit faulty checks into their accounts and …  Full Story   The Refresh  News we've flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics:   Trump family, Biden aides targeted in China hack Members of Trump's family, the Biden administration and State Department were among the figures recently targeted in an alleged hack by Chinese-affiliated actors, The New York Times reports.    Musk' xAI in talks to raise valuation to $40 billion Elon Musk's xAI is in talks with investors to raise its funding value to about $40 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports.    On Our Radar  Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation will hold an event on "US v. Google (Again): A Post-Trial Analysis of the Ad Tech Case" Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET. Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), will join The Washington Post Live to discuss the agency's efforts to protect the 2024 election Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET.   What Others are Reading  Two key stories on The Hill right now: Early, mail-in votes raise questions about possible election results The first votes of the 2024 presidential election are rolling in, raising questions about what can be gleaned from the data in forecasting the possible … Read more The Memo: Trump campaign struggles to contain Puerto Rico October surprise The Trump campaign is struggling to contain an October surprise of its own making, just one week from Election Day. A racist remark by comedian Tony … Read more   What Others are Reading  Opinion related to tech submitted to The Hill: Not just the rank-and-file: In-office mandates cause executives to quit     You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Close Thank you for signing up! 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