Steve Case warns tech firms to be 'careful' about growing backlash in Washington

Steve Case on Thursday warned big tech companies to be "careful" about the changing sentiment toward the industry in Washington and encouraged them to look for ways to create opportunity outside of Silicon Valley.

“There is this growing sense, and you're starting to hear it more in D.C., 'Maybe these companies are a little too powerful. Maybe Silicon Valley is a little bit out of touch with the reality out there,'" the venture capitalist and AOL co-founder said at POLITICO’s Pro Summit.


Firms like Amazon and Apple should try to "figure out ways to invest in the middle of the country, support entrepreneurs in the middle of the country and create jobs in the middle of the country," he said.

As POLITICO previously reported, conservatives and liberals alike are increasingly skeptical of the reach and size of the nation's biggest tech players.

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Case has been banging the drum for entrepreneurship in middle America for years, well before President Donald Trump made adding jobs there a cornerstone of his economic agenda.

Through his “Rise of the Rest” campaign, Case has traveled to and funded startup companies in Omaha, Cincinnati, Detroit, Albuquerque and others places not commonly known as technology hubs.