California's "BASED Act" Targets $1T Tech Giants — Y Combinator and Cory Doctorow Back It

Hannah
Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:32:02 +0000

California’s “BASED Act” Goes After $1T Tech Giants — Y Combinator and Cory Doctorow Both Back It

A 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 (click for more details) 📖 The Backstory — Why This Bill Exists (click for more details) 📊 What the Bill Actually Bans (click for more details) 🗣️ Who's Backing This (and Who Isn't) (click for more details) ⚡ The Apple Timing Is Bonkers (click for more details) 😤 What Big Tech Says Would Break (click for more details)

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 (click for more details) 📱 Launch iOS Apps via Vibe Coding (Without Apple Killing Your Updates) (click for more details) 🛠️ Offer 'Data Portability' Migration Services (click for more details) 💰 Create 'Anti-Self-Preferencing' Audit Reports for Brands (click for more details) 🧩 Build on DuckDuckGo, Yelp, or Other Beneficiaries (click for more details) 🛠️ Follow-Up Actions (click for more details)

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.

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