The strange bedfellows making up the coalition pushing for antitrust action against Big Tech were on full display yesterday in Washington, Ashley reports.

Why it matters: There's plenty of momentum right now for the people on both sides of the aisle who want to bring down incumbent tech firms.

• Big Tech has a reason to be spooked that so many D.C. players want to cause them trouble, and the antitrust cases at the DOJ and FTC and claims of censorship are keeping them busy.

Yes, but: There are still drastic differences in tactics, end goals, and reasons for Big Tech grievances, as exemplified by the diverse lineup of speakers at Y Combinator's "Little Tech" summit this week.

• Eye-popping duos (like former FTC chair Lina Khan and Steve Bannon, photographed smiling together after Bannon appeared on stage with former CFPB director Rohit Chopra) happily tout a bipartisan interest in attacking corporate power.

Between the lines: Those are real problems for Big Tech, and they're putting them on the defense in Washington. But big fissures could derail a growing bipartisan pro-antitrust coalition.

At the core of the right-left partnership are some key tensions: President Trump is easily swayed by campaign donations, in-office visits, and flattery, plus a desire to fight back against what he views of discrimination of U.S. companies abroad through European policy.

• Republicans are also generally skeptical of new antitrust legislation (with some exceptions), a key goal of pro-antitrust Democrats.
• Democrats argue that Trump's moves to slash the federal bureaucracy and claim more executive power, including the recent firing of the two Democratic FTC commissioners, could weaken enforcement goals or leave agency heads more vulnerable to industry capture.

What they're saying: "I do think [the firings] get to this deep issue, which is, if you want to govern in ways that check the power of Big Tech or other monopolists, you need a government," Khan told reporters at the Y Combinator event.

• "If you're simultaneously trying to take apart the government or the administrative state, there's a real tension between that project and wanting to take on monopolies," she said.

Asked if the MAGA crowd is actually beholden to Big Tech despite its negative rhetoric, Bannon said being aligned with Silicon Valley technocrats like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel goes against everything populism stands for.

• "They want us to be subservient to their interest in techno feudalism, and we're not going to do that."

What we're watching: It's too early to tell just how tough Trump's picks for key antitrust posts at the DOJ and FTC will be for future cases, but big cases against Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta are pushing forward under their watch.

• Bannon argued that "personnel is policy" and Trump's appointment of Gail Slater as DOJ antitrust chief and Andrew Ferguson as FTC chair show the president is serious about reining in Big Tech power.

The bottom line: Democrats like Khan and Chopra are happy to welcome all voices to their side. But they acknowledge keeping the coalition strong won't be easy.

• "It's easy to talk about how you want to be tough with monopolies, but when push comes to shove in this job, are you actually going to take action?" Khan said.

Meta is back in the hot seat in Washington just as CEO Mark Zuckerberg makes moves to get closer to President Trump, Ashley reports.

The big picture: Meta's got an upcoming FTC antitrust trial, a potentially huge European competition fine, and congressional attention on a new whistleblower book.

• Cue Zuckerberg making moves in Washington.

Driving the news: Sen. Josh Hawley announced yesterday that Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams will testify before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism on "her explosive evidence of Facebook's cooperation with the Communist regime in China."

• Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said: "We do not operate our services in China today," pointing to a 2019 announcement from Zuckerberg that they would not pursue plans in China.

Zuckerberg visited the Oval Office on yesterday, the day it was revealed he bought a $23 million D.C. mansion.

• Zuckerberg was spotted in the West Wing by various reporters. WSJ reported that Meta has been meeting with Trump and advisers ahead of Meta's FTC trial that starts this month, urging for a settlement.
• "We regularly meet with policymakers to discuss issues impacting competitiveness, national security, and economic growth," Stone said.
• Beyond the FTC trial, Meta is hoping to see Trump defend the company against an incoming antitrust fine and remedies from Europe.

What they're saying: "I welcome the fact that Zuckerberg says he's going to stop engaging in obvious, outrageous censorship. Congratulations, but that doesn't mean you get to violate the antitrust laws," Hawley told reporters at yesterday's Y Combinator event.

• On the Digital Markets Act and if Trump should defend U.S. companies abroad, Hawley said: "I'm not a huge fan of carrying water for Big Tech companies anywhere."

The tech industry is reeling in the wake of President Trump's sweeping new tariffs, Axios' Mackenzie Weinger writes.

The big picture: Trump's long been fixated on tariffs and vowed on the campaign trail to enact far-reaching trade restrictions. Now he's following through, and it'll upend the tech world.

Here's a roundup of what industry groups and observers are saying so far.

ITI's Sean Murphy: These tariffs "threaten America's ability to lead in key technology areas like AI and manufacturing."

• "The Administration should also work with industry to implement a tariff exclusion process that provides redress for unintended consequences and keeps the United States at the forefront of innovation."
• "As President Trump looks to implement his ambitious agenda, we urge him to reconsider tariffs as the primary trade tool at his disposal."

CTA's Gary Shapiro: "Trump's sweeping global and reciprocal tariffs are massive tax hikes on Americans that will drive inflation, kill jobs on Main Street, and may cause a recession for the U.S. economy."

• "Make no mistake: American consumers, families, and workers will feel real pain, and elected policymakers in Washington will be held accountable by voters."

DigitalEurope: "Tariffs are bad for tech."

• "This is an extra tax on products that are essential for the running of the digital economy like advanced machinery, grid technologies and telecoms equipment. It's bad for both the US and Europe."

Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives: "Over the coming 24 hours the world will quickly realize these tariff rates will never stay as they are shown otherwise it would be a self-inflicted Economic Armageddon. ... We have to assume this is the start of a negotiation and these rates will not hold."

What we're watching: The White House said yesterday that semiconductors are exempt.

• Trump, however, has repeatedly said since coming into office that tariffs on foreign-made chips are coming soon.

The Department of Energy said today it has identified 16 federal sites to potentially build AI data centers and fuel them in part with innovative energy tech, our Axios Pro Energy colleague Nick Sobczyk writes.

Why it matters: It could open new possibilities for developers of massive, power-hungry data centers.

Driving the news: The agency opened up a request for information today, seeking input from tech companies, power developers, and the public about siting AI infrastructure on public land.

• DOE wants to commence operations by the end of 2027 and help companies fast-track permitting for new nuclear and other energy tech, the agency said in a release.

Between the lines: The idea stems originally from a Biden-era executive order that opened up DOE and Defense Department land for data center development.