What the Big Beautiful Bill Means for Tech

Key Takeaways:

The bill extends 2017-era tax cuts, including provisions that may benefit pass-through and C-corp tech businesses.
Reduced funding for federal R&D and clean energy could impact emerging sectors such as climate tech and advanced manufacturing.
Heightened immigration enforcement and rollback of green card programs may affect access to skilled tech talent.
Infrastructure and defense spending may boost select segments like aerospace, cybersecurity, and border tech.
Longer-term fiscal impacts—including projected increases in federal deficits—may influence capital markets and tech-sector valuations.

The recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” formally known as H.R.1 and now awaiting presidential signature, is poised to introduce wide-reaching changes to the U.S. economy. While much of the public attention has focused on tax policy and social programs, the bill may also have significant downstream effects on the technology sector—from workforce composition and investment behavior to strategic innovation priorities.

Here’s what’s emerging for tech professionals, investors, and founders as the details become clearer.

Tax Policy and Capital Formation

The bill extends many of the provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including lower corporate tax rates and favorable treatment for pass-through entities. This could prove beneficial to private and early-stage technology companies structured as LLCs or S-corps, particularly those reinvesting earnings into R&D and hiring.

The continuation of bonus depreciation and expanded deductions may incentivize capital expenditures—potentially useful for companies investing in servers, lab equipment, or AI infrastructure.

However, the lack of corresponding pay-fors raises broader fiscal questions. The Congressional Budget Office has projected the bill may add $2.4 to $2.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. Should interest rates remain elevated or rise further, venture funding and valuations may face pressure due to tighter monetary conditions.

Immigration and Workforce Considerations

Tech is a sector deeply reliant on global talent. The bill’s expansion of immigration enforcement, along with related administrative measures reportedly under consideration, could limit the availability of skilled workers in areas such as software engineering, data science, and cybersecurity.

Startups and midsized companies often depend on H-1B and STEM OPT programs to fill high-skill roles. While the bill does not explicitly change legal immigration caps, increased visa scrutiny or enforcement dragnet effects could increase compliance burdens and slow hiring timelines.

Should these conditions persist, they may influence hiring strategies, encourage offshoring, or accelerate investment in automation.

Energy, Climate, and R&D Cuts

One of the more consequential moves for the tech-adjacent sectors is the bill’s rollback of various clean energy incentives introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act. This includes repealing or reducing tax credits for solar, wind, EV infrastructure, and battery production.

Companies operating in climate tech, sustainable infrastructure, and advanced materials may see reduced demand for pilot projects or slower procurement cycles. For venture-backed startups in these verticals, the change could affect go-to-market timelines and investor sentiment.

Additionally, reductions in discretionary domestic spending may impact federal support for basic research and innovation programs—particularly those administered by the Department of Energy, NSF, and NIST. These agencies often serve as early-stage funders or collaborators for emerging technologies, including AI safety, quantum computing, and semiconductors.

Defense, Infrastructure, and Tech Enablement

At the same time, the bill channels significant funding toward defense and border security—reportedly over $170 billion for ICE and related systems. These allocations may spur demand for technologies related to surveillance, secure communications, drones, and cybersecurity infrastructure.

Companies that sell into defense, intelligence, or law enforcement agencies may find expanded contract opportunities. Likewise, infrastructure modernization tied to national security or critical systems may accelerate procurement of ruggedized networking, cloud integration, or supply chain authentication tools.

While the civil tech market may face uncertainty due to social program reductions and shifting consumer dynamics, dual-use and GovTech sectors could benefit from this reshaping of federal priorities.

Market Implications

The tech sector’s near-term response to the Big Beautiful Bill is likely to be mixed:

High-margin, capital-intensive companies—particularly in enterprise SaaS or AI infrastructure—may benefit from tax advantages and government IT modernization.
Consumer-facing apps and companies serving lower-income populations could face headwinds from reduced transfer payments and shifting demand.
Energy transition startups, clean mobility platforms, and climate-oriented funds may see slower capital deployment until there’s more policy clarity.
Defense-adjacent firms and infrastructure-oriented ventures could benefit from new or expanded budget lines.

Over the longer term, concerns about sustained deficit expansion and tighter fiscal policy may influence broader capital allocation trends—especially in sectors that rely heavily on government incentives or long-cycle investment.

Conclusion

The Big Beautiful Bill presents a complex set of tradeoffs for the technology industry. While tax policy continuity and national security spending may offer near-term upside in some segments, the broader macroeconomic and workforce implications could introduce new challenges for innovation, hiring, and equitable growth. As implementation unfolds, founders and investors alike will need to monitor how sector-specific priorities evolve—and how political dynamics shape future rounds of legislation.

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Aside from his role as CEO of TMC and chairman of ITEXPO #TECHSUPERSHOW Feb 10-12, 2026, Rich Tehrani is CEO of RT Advisors and a Registered Representative (investment banker) with and offering securities through Four Points Capital Partners LLC (Four Points) (Member FINRA/SIPC). He handles capital/debt raises as well as M&A. RT Advisors is not owned by Four Points.

The above is not an endorsement or recommendation to buy/sell any security or sector mentioned. No companies mentioned above are current or past clients of RT Advisors.

The views and opinions expressed above are those of the participants. While believed to be reliable, the information has not been independently verified for accuracy. Any broad, general statements made herein are provided for context only and should not be construed as exhaustive or universally applicable.

Portions of this article may have been developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence, which may have contributed to ideation, content generation, factual review, or editing