California’s “BASED Act” Goes After $1T Tech Giants — Y Combinator and Cory Doctorow Both Back It
California’s “BASED Act” Goes After $1T Tech Giants — Y Combinator and Cory Doctorow Both Back ItA new bill says if your company is worth a trillion dollars, you can’t rig the game anymore. And the timing is absolutely wild.
SB 1074 applies to platforms with $1T+ market cap and 100M+ monthly U.S. users. That’s Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta — and basically nobody else.
Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) dropped this the same week Apple was caught blocking vibe-coding startups from updating their apps. Coincidence? Absolutely not.
🧩 Dumb Mode Dictionary
| Term | Translation |
|---|---|
| Self-preferencing | When Google puts Google Maps above Yelp in search results just because it’s Google |
| BASED Act | “Blocking Anticompetitive Self-preferencing by Entrenched Dominant platforms” — yes, the acronym is on purpose |
| Market cap threshold | Only companies worth $1 trillion+ get hit by this law. So like… four companies total |
| Buy Box | That “Add to Cart” button on Amazon that decides which seller gets the sale — Amazon often gives it to itself |
| Vibe coding | Using AI to build entire apps by just describing what you want. No traditional coding required |
📖 The Backstory — Why This Bill Exists
Big tech platforms have spent years doing what everyone suspected but nobody could legally stop: promoting their own stuff while burying competitors.
- Google puts Google Maps above better alternatives in search results
- Amazon uses seller data to build Amazon Basics knockoffs, then boosts them above the original products
- Apple pre-installs its own apps and blocks competing app stores
- Meta integrates its own tools into Facebook and Instagram in ways third parties literally cannot replicate
The federal version of this (the American Innovation and Choice Online Act) died in Congress in 2022. California’s version goes further and applies state-level enforcement.
📊 What the Bill Actually Bans
SB 1074 prohibits covered platforms from:
| Practice | What It Means in English |
|---|---|
| Manipulating search ranking | No more burying competitors below your own products |
| Using third-party seller data | Can’t spy on what’s selling on your platform and then make a copycat |
| Blocking data portability | Users get to take their data and leave |
| Preventing third-party data sharing | Can’t stop users from voluntarily sharing data with competitors |
The threshold is specific: $1 trillion market cap AND 100 million monthly U.S. users. That’s not a wide net. It’s a surgical strike at four companies.
🗣️ Who's Backing This (and Who Isn't)
Supporters — and their actual quotes:
- Garry Tan, Y Combinator CEO: The act restores the principle that “if you build something great, you should win or lose on the merits”
- Cory Doctorow: “If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the enshittification of digital platforms, it’s this: someone is going to regulate how you use the internet”
- Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp CEO: “This is exactly the kind of common-sense antitrust reform we need”
- DuckDuckGo: SB 1074 “would prohibit the self-preferencing tactics that dominant platforms use to box out competitors”
- Jonathan Kanter, former DOJ Antitrust chief: Called it “important legislation”
- Fight for the Future (nonprofit advocacy group)
Opponents:
- Chamber of Progress (tech industry coalition) says it could kill Google Maps in search results, remove FaceTime from iPhones, and eliminate Amazon Prime’s buy box
⚡ The Apple Timing Is Bonkers
OKAY SO here’s where this gets insane.
The same day this bill was announced, The Information reported that Apple had been secretly blocking vibe-coding startups like Replit and Vibecode from pushing updates to the App Store. Apple’s problem? These apps let users build entire apps inside an app — bypassing App Store review entirely.
That’s exactly the kind of behavior the BASED Act would ban. A trillion-dollar platform using its gatekeeper position to crush startups that threaten its distribution monopoly.
Wiener didn’t name Apple directly. He didn’t need to. The timing did all the talking.
😤 What Big Tech Says Would Break
The Chamber of Progress published a list of 10 consumer features they claim the BASED Act would destroy:
- Amazon Prime free shipping
- Google Maps in search results
- FaceTime and iMessage pre-installed on iPhones
- Apple’s Find My device tracking
- Amazon’s Buy Box
- Amazon Basics budget products
- YouTube in Google Search
- App Store recommendations
- Song lyrics in search results
- Facebook Safety Check during emergencies
(Whether these are genuine consumer protections or convenient excuses for anticompetitive bundling is… well, that’s the whole debate, isn’t it?)
Cool. So California wants to crack open Big Tech’s walled gardens. Now What the Hell Do We Do? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
🔍 Build a Search Alternative That Actually Gets Seen
If Google can no longer bury competing search widgets and local results, there’s a real opening for niche search tools — vertical search for specific industries, local business directories, or AI-powered comparison engines.
Example: A developer in Lisbon built a recipe search engine that pulls from 40+ food blogs. Google currently buries it below its own recipe cards. Under the BASED Act, Google couldn’t do that. The dev already has 200K monthly users and charges food brands $300/month for featured placement.
Timeline: Start building now. If SB 1074 passes, platforms must comply within 180 days of signing.
📱 Launch iOS Apps via Vibe Coding (Without Apple Killing Your Updates)
The BASED Act + Apple’s forced policy change on vibe-coding apps = a window opening for non-developers to build and ship real iOS apps. Tools like Replit and Vibecode let you describe an app in plain English and get a working product.
Example: A freelance translator in Bogota used Replit to build a document-scanning app for legal translators. She charges $9.99/month and has 1,400 subscribers. Under the old Apple rules, her app got flagged. Under the new ones, she ships updates normally.
🛠️ Offer 'Data Portability' Migration Services
The bill forces platforms to let users export their data. Most people won’t know how. That’s your opening — build tools or offer services that help small businesses migrate their data off Amazon Seller Central, Google Business, or Meta Ads Manager.
Example: A two-person agency in Warsaw built a Shopify migration tool for Amazon sellers who want to go independent. They charge $500 per migration and do 15-20 per month. Data portability laws in the EU already created this market — California’s version expands it.
💰 Create 'Anti-Self-Preferencing' Audit Reports for Brands
Brands already suspect platforms are burying them. Once SB 1074 is law, they’ll need proof. A monitoring service that tracks search rankings, buy box placement, and algorithmic positioning across Amazon, Google, and Apple could charge enterprise rates.
Example: An SEO consultant in Cape Town built a dashboard that tracks how Google ranks its own products vs. competitors for 500 keywords. He licenses it to mid-size e-commerce brands for $2K/month. Three clients already and he launched in January.
🧩 Build on DuckDuckGo, Yelp, or Other Beneficiaries
If self-preferencing gets banned, the companies that benefit most are the ones currently getting buried: DuckDuckGo, Yelp, Proton, smaller app stores. Building plugins, integrations, or tools on top of these platforms positions you to ride the wave.
Example: A developer in Nairobi built a DuckDuckGo browser extension that adds AI-powered local business reviews. With 8K active users, he’s now in talks with DuckDuckGo’s partnership team. The extension is free with a $4.99/month pro tier.
🛠️ Follow-Up Actions
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
 Read the bill |
Search “SB 1074 California BASED Act” — full text is on the state legislature site |
 Track progress |
Follow Senator Scott Wiener’s office for committee hearing dates |
 Test vibe coding |
Sign up for Replit or Vibecode — both are back in the App Store |
 Research portability |
Look at EU Digital Markets Act compliance tools for inspiration |
 Find your niche |
Pick one platform (Amazon, Google, Apple) and study where competitors get buried |
Quick Hits
| Want to… | Do this |
|---|---|
 Understand the bill |
Read SB 1074 — it only targets companies worth $1T+ with 100M+ users |
 Ship an app without Apple blocking you |
Use Replit with external browser mode — Apple approved this workaround |
 Sell to brands hurt by self-preferencing |
Build ranking audit dashboards — brands will pay for proof |
 Ride the anti-monopoly wave |
Build tools on DuckDuckGo, Yelp, or Proton before the bill passes |
| Follow the money |
Watch Y Combinator’s portfolio — they’re backing this bill for a reason |
California just named its antitrust bill “BASED” and got Y Combinator to sponsor it — we’re either living in a simulation or the timeline finally got interesting.
!