Capstone LLC, a policy analysis and investment research firm, has released its technology, media and telecom sector preview for 2026, highlighting regulatory developments and policy shifts expected to reshape artificial intelligence, digital platforms, cryptocurrency markets, and technology labor dynamics.
Capstone expects the Trump administration to maintain a pro-AI, hands-off regulatory posture, with states and courts filling gaps through targeted restrictions. The firm anticipates a transactional approach to semiconductor export controls, allowing chipmakers to continue advanced hardware sales to China while federal support for data center development persists despite local opposition.
Capstone says platform operators face increasingly multifaceted regulatory pressure. Age verification requirements, children’s safety litigation, and evolving content liability standards create near-term headwinds for Google, Meta Platforms Inc., Apple, and Roblox, while antitrust actions targeting app store practices continue.
Regulatory frameworks from the GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and SEC actions will enable traditional banks and securities platforms to enter digital-asset markets, intensifying competition for incumbent crypto platforms through lower fees, according to Capstone. Non-US countries will promote domestic stablecoins to combat dollarization.
Immigration policy poses underappreciated risks, with accelerated deportations threatening homebuilders’ immigrant labor supply and prevailing wage reform creating cost pressures for foreign IT outsourcers, adds the research firm.
