30 best technology books to gift in 2026: biographies, startup histories, and more
Let your professionals access the inner workings of companies and the figures shaping Big Tech.
30 great tech books to give (or keep for yourself)
Give your life experts access to the inner workings of the companies and personalities that shape Big Tech.
It is hard to overestimate the impact of big technology on the modern world. But how did we get here? The best technology books reveal the rise and sometimes fall of some of the dominant companies and personalities that created the tools and software.
You'll find detailed biographies, in-depth company history, and plenty of drama and insight in these tech collections, and they also make great gifts for the techies in your life. You may also be interested in our gifts for book lovers, the best cookbooks and our guide to the best Kindle.
Updated October 2026: I added five books, including Apple in China, More Everything Forever, Gouged, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, and The Nerd Reich.
Thinking machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia and the world's most popular chip
This biography of founder and CEO Jensen Huang is educational and entertaining, charting Nvidia's rise to become one of the most valuable companies on earth. Witt explains how the company transformed GPU (graphics processing unit) production for gaming into parallel processing and the combination of hardware and software that has helped give rise to artificial intelligence. It's also made Huang very wealthy, but he's not always painted in a flattering light, which helps balance the atmosphere of founder worship.
For a slightly different perspective on Nvidia's history, try Tae Kim's The Way of Nvidia: Jensen Hwang and the Making of a Tech Giant.
Deserving of a Pulitzer Prize, this book should be required reading for anyone who works in technology or is curious about how it dominates our lives. First published in 1981, the book reveals the inner workings of Data General in the 1970s as the company struggled to design and market a successful next-generation minicomputer. Kidder portrays the struggle between management and creatives and weaves a fascinating story out of a seemingly dry subject. He explains the intense time pressure on engineers that leads to a constant state of crisis, the need for recruits to feel like they are working on something important in which they have a stake, and the psychology of leadership who aim to make ambitious projects a reality. It positively predicts the dangers of burnout for the unsung heroes who sacrifice to build new machines.
Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World
This fascinating dive down the rabbit hole of the Covid conspiracy is apparently about how people confuse Naomi Klein with Naomi Wolf. Klein is a left-wing journalist and climate activist. Wolff was a third-wave feminist, but is now a rabid anti-vaccine.
If you're still confused about the convergence of health and the far right, or why so many ordinary people are swallowing the misinformation that breeds racism and climate denial, Klein has compelling answers. It's a challenging and sometimes dark read, but it was also the most important book of 2023. The book is brutally honest and exposes the absurdities of capitalism and the role social media has played in the rise of narcissism.
Released just 19 days after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, this stunning biography takes an in-depth look at his life and goes some way to explaining his lasting legacy. Isaacson was selected by Jobs himself, who granted more than 40 interviews with his biographer and apparently had no control over the final edit. Jobs' intense passion and ambition led him to successfully combine creative ideas with technological innovations and sell them to the public. This is an accessible book that never gets too technical. It accurately depicts the rise of Apple and Pixar and the development of the Mac, iTunes, iPhone and iPad. While flattering at times, Jobs' brutality is not sugar-coated, and anyone with more than a passing interest in the man should read this book.
For a less Jobs-centric exploration of the development of the Mac, read Revolution in the Valley: The Big Crazy Story of How the Mac Was Built by Andy Herzfeld.
The dark side of the Internet's mind is soothed by Ronson's cast of characters. From Jonah Lehrer's fascinating story of plagiarism to the insulting of Justin Sacco after an ill-advised tweet that was called racist, Ronson explores the stories behind the scandals and looks at the relentless online havoc it can wreak. This book is a fun and engaging look at how shame, empowered by social media, is a powerful form of social control with real-life consequences.
Jon Ronson is my favorite non-fiction author, and I also highly recommend Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men and The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry.
Apple in China: Conquest of the world's largest company
Who would have thought that maximizing profit at any cost could lead to problems? Apple's pursuit of tradition led it to outsource almost all of its gadget production to China, and now it is grappling with the economic, political, and cultural consequences. McGee spoke with many former Apple executives and engineers to find out what happened, why, and what it means for Apple and the United States.
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives
I could have easily included several entries from WIRED's own Steven Levy on this list, from his highly influential 1984 debut, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, to his latest, Facebook: The Inside Story, but I chose In the Plex. Despite the influence of Google, a company whose name has become a verb, most of us know little about its inner workings. If you want to change that, this is the book to read. Levy secured unprecedented access to provide a fascinating dive into what makes Google tick, what made it successfully expand into new areas, and how the company and its products have changed the world.
If you want more, How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg provides insight into management at the company.
Internet glitch: How to use computing tools
I remember when the internet was good, before we were stuck in walled gardens and Big Tech put thumbscrews on us to mine the last cent. Doctorow's amazing theory of conjuring blindness is now widely accepted and increasingly common everywhere you look. He believes that interoperability may just be the antidote, and while his scathing criticisms are shaped more than his proposed solutions, he at least tries to be a little hopeful.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Noble goals and raw ambition are lauded in the tech world and often attract acclaim and investment, but what happens when a project goes awry?
Based on a shocking exposé by Wall Street Journal reporter Carreiro of Theranos, the book follows charismatic founder Elizabeth Holmes as she tries to build a blood-testing device to eliminate the need for hypodermic needles, promising accurate tests from a drop or two of blood through a finger prick. Although the company raised hundreds of millions of dollars, its technology was horribly flawed. Instead of admitting defeat, he pressed on, and because of this, Holmes was tried for fraud and sentenced to 11 years in prison. This book highlights the dangers of the popular "fake it till you make it" approach. Theranos reached a paper value of $9 billion and employed more than 800 people before its spectacular collapse.
Everything More Forever: Artificial Intelligence Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control Humanity's Destiny
The ideology of Silicon Valley and the self-serving narratives of tech billionaires are exposed as delusional justifications for the insane accumulation of wealth and power in this fascinating, reasoned, sometimes depressing, but always reasoned book. Becker is doing his homework thoroughly to destroy our unethical CEO rulers and the philosophies and movements they support.
You Look Like a Thing and I Like You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It's Making the World a Stranger Place
If you can't help but think about AI these days, you'll enjoy this book. It explores machine learning algorithms and their limitations in an accessible, engaging, and often funny way.
Shane is the research scientist behind the AI comics blog Weirdness, and he does a solid job of demystifying AI, explaining how machine learning actually works, and highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. Although you'll learn about things like generative adversarial networks, the book never gets boring, thanks to the witty and stylish writing along with practical examples of AI's attempts at creativity that are often funny and hilarious.
What's new: The story of Silicon Valley
Opening a computer yacht, the talented Michael Lewis takes us on an adventure into the mind of billionaire Jim Clark, founder of Netscape and Silicon Graphics. This book shows the power shift in Silicon Valley startups from "money men" to "ideal men" and engineers.
Lois also tries to discover what drives Clarke's endless pursuit of what's next and his seemingly never-ending desire for more. This modern captain of industry is restless, perpetually unhappy, and not very lovable. The journey is an interesting framework, and there are echoes of Kidder's book in its thematic qualities and the author's earnest attempt to discover what really motivates him.
Excellence: Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World
The race to make artificial intelligence mainstream is shaping up as a battle between CEOs Sam Altman of OpenAI and Demis Hasabis of DeepMind, but Olson does a good job of showing how seemingly well-intentioned idealists can be swayed and sold out by billionaires. If you're wondering about the forces driving the AI arms race, how inflated valuations have led to political power, or the list of ethical and legal concerns AI raises, you'll find this book enlightening.
Code: Silicon Valley and American Reconstruction
If you've ever wondered how such a small suburban area came to dominate the tech world, Margaret O'Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington, has some answers. This concise and comprehensive book weaves together interviews, biographies, and countless other sources to explain how Silicon Valley has driven and dominated technological innovation. O'Mara reveals the foundations on which founders and businesses mythologize themselves, and the critical role government plays in their rise.
People looking for an insider's perspective might like Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Weiner.