Private dinner for business leaders hosted by US President Trump, in Washington.
Credit: Reuters photo
By Josh Wingrove and Lauren Dezenski
Meta Platforms Inc’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple Inc’s Tim Cook joined tech industry leaders in touting their pledges to boost spending in the US on artificial intelligence during a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump that highlighted his deepening relationship with Silicon Valley.
In his opening remarks, Trump addressed a key concern of tech companies: ensuring there’s enough energy to meet surging power demands from the data centers behind the AI boom.
“We’re making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits,” Trump said in the White House State Dining Room. “We’re leading China by a lot, by a really, by a great amount.”
Thursday’s dinner marked a rare gathering in Washington of top executives and founders from some of the world’s most valuable tech companies — all vying for an edge in the emerging field of AI. Attendees also included OpenAI Inc’s Sam Altman, Alphabet Inc.’s Sundar Pichai and co-founder Sergey Brin, and Microsoft Corp’s Satya Nadella and Bill Gates.
The president went around the table asking executives to talk about their plans. Corporate leaders took turns highlighting their efforts to expand in the US, with each expressing gratitude for administration policies they see as bolstering efforts to advance AI. Trump asked Zuckerberg to speak first.
“All of the companies here are building, just making huge investments in the country in order to build out data centers and infrastructure to power the next wave of innovation,” the Meta CEO told Trump. Pressed by the president on how much his company was investing, Zuckerberg said “at least $600 billion” through 2028.
“That’s a lot,” Trump said. In recent days, the president has touted a massive data center Meta is building in Louisiana that will cost $50 billion.
Trump has drawn tech executives into his orbit with an agenda aimed at lowering tax and regulatory burdens for business in a bid to ramp up investments in the US and secure the country’s dominance in cutting-edge tech sectors. The burgeoning artificial intelligence field has been a centerpiece of that focus.
Trump’s White House AI czar, Silicon Valley venture capitalist David Sacks, in July helped unveil a sweeping action plan calling for easing regulation of artificial intelligence, stepping up research and development, and boosting domestic energy production to fuel energy-hungry data centers — all to ensure the US keeps an edge over rivals such as China.
The president has secured billions in corporate commitments to drive construction of AI infrastructure. On Thursday, the White House hailed Hitachi Energy’s announcement that it planned to invest more than $1 billion in electric grid infrastructure that could support AI’s growing power demands.
More broadly, companies have announced plans to bolster US investment as they look to avoid tariffs Trump is placing on imports to spur a shift toward domestic manufacturing of critical goods. Trump has indicated that some companies that commit to building in the US could get a break from some tariffs.
Cook, whose company last month committed to spending an additional $100 billion on domestic manufacturing for a total pledge of $600 billion, thanked Trump for “setting the tone such that we could make a major investment.”
The president indicated that Cook’s investment promise would help spare Apple from tariffs on semiconductor imports that the administration has plans to impose. “Tim Cook would be in pretty good shape,” Trump said.
Trump’s relationship with Silicon Valley took wing at his swearing-in ceremony in January, when Zuckerberg, Cook and Pichai each had prominent seats after having donated millions toward the inauguration. Trump and his allies will be eager to tap those pockets again ahead of next year’s midterm elections to determine control of Congress.
Earlier Thursday, many of the same executives joined first lady Melania Trump for a discussion on AI, where she hailed the business leaders as visionaries and urged their cooperation in helping responsibly guide the broader adoption of AI technology.
The first lady sat next to Trump during the White House dinner. Other attendees at the evening event included Oracle Corp. CEO Safra Catz and Lisa Su, the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
The dinner was originally intended to be held in the newly renovated White House Rose Garden, where Trump installed stone pavers and furnished the space with patio tables and a sound system after complaining that the previous grass surface was unsuitable for large events. But inclement weather forced officials to move the event inside.