President Donald Trump welcomed leading technology executives to the White House, where they commended his push to boost investment in semiconductor production and artificial intelligence (AI). The gathering was initially set to take place in the refurbished Rose Garden, but a sudden spell of rain moved it indoors.
The guest list reads like a who’s who of Silicon Valley power players — Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai were among those who joined the President at the White House dinner, alongside a select group of more than a dozen other AI and tech leaders invited for the high-profile gathering.
A pool report as per Business Insider noted that with over 30 seats set around the table, attendees were invited to share their views in turn, many using the moment to commend the president. Apple chief Tim Cook and OpenAI’s Sam Altman were among the tech leaders who said “thank you” to Trump, while others outlined the scale of their planned investments in the United States, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, thanked the president for the policies he has “put in place for the United States to lead,” according to Insider.
“I think that everything that you’re doing in terms of setting in place the platform where the rest of the world can not only use our technology, but trust our technology more than any other alternative is perhaps the most important issue, and you, and you and your policies are really helping a lot… So thank you very much.”
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“Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change,” said Altman. “I think it’s going to set us up for a long period of leading the world, and that wouldn’t be happening without your leadership.”
While Apple is planning to pour $600 billion into its U.S. operations, Tim Cook said, crediting Trump’s policies for creating the right environment. “I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we can make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing here. I think it says a lot about your leadership and focus on innovation,” Cook remarked, according to the report.
However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who previously had close ties to Trump’s White House through the DOGE office, was absent from the event. The administration noted that someone from his team would attend in his place. Musk and Trump had a public rift earlier this year, though the former president has expressed confidence that Musk will eventually realign with the Republican camp. Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang did not attend the gathering. Sources familiar with his approach said he favors meeting with the White House in one-on-one settings, where the president can devote attention to key matters, the report added.
Earlier in the day, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and IBM’s Arvind Krishna were among the tech leaders making their way to the White House for a session of the White House Task Force on AI Education, hosted by First Lady Melania Trump, before joining the evening’s high-profile dinner with President Trump.
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“The most brilliant people are gathered at this table,” said Trump. “This is definitely a high IQ group.” Trump began the dinner by highlighting a major challenge facing tech firms: securing sufficient electricity to run the large data centers required for AI development, the report said. His administration has been pushing to ease barriers for linking data centers to the power grid, though significant hurdles remain at the state level, the report added.
“I know everybody at the table indirectly through reading about you and studying, knowing a lot about your business, actually making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits,” said Trump as quoted by Seeking Alpha.
During the dinner, both Trump and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who sat beside the president, were questioned about a speech crackdown in the UK. Appearing caught off guard, Zuckerberg replied that he hadn’t been listening, the report noted.
Trump then quipped to Zuckerberg, “This is the beginning of your political career.” With a laugh, Zuckerberg responded, “No, it’s not.”
Trump also spoke with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai regarding a federal judge’s recent decision in the antitrust case concerning Google’s dominance in search. “You had a very good day yesterday,” said Trump. “Do you want to talk about that big day you had yesterday?” In response, “I’m glad it’s over.”