At White House tech dinner, Trump hails Nadella, Pichai as leaders praise AI push

Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai lauded US policies on AI and innovation, as Trump called them part of a “high IQ group” shaping the future of global technology.

New York: US President Donald Trump has applauded Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google chief Sundar Pichai for their work, while the two Indian-American technology executives thanked him for his leadership and praised him for his policies for the tech and AI sectors.

Trump hosted a power-packed cohort of technology executives for dinner at the White House on Thursday, saying the “high IQ group” is leading a revolution in business.

"The most brilliant people are gathered around this table. This is definitely a high IQ group and I'm very proud of them," Trump said, sitting at the centre of a long table and flanked by First Lady Melania Trump, Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on one side and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the other.

Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook sat across the table from Trump, while Nadella was seated toward one end of the table.

"It's an honour to be here with this group of people. They're leading a revolution in business and in genius and in every other work you can imagine,” Trump said Thursday.

After making opening remarks, Trump invited the technology leaders sitting at the table to share their thoughts.

In his brief comments, Pichai said that the “AI moment is one of the most transformative moments any of us have ever seen or will see in our lifetimes. So making sure the US is at the forefront.”

Pichai said the Trump administration is investing a lot in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and termed the ‘AI Action Plan’, unveiled in July by the White House, as a "great start".

"We look forward to working together. And thanks for your leadership," Pichai said to Trump.

"Great job you're doing. Incredible, really,” Trump told Pichai.

Turning to Nadella, Trump said the Microsoft chief "has done a pretty good job” and added that he owned the Microsoft stock that has gone from USD 28 to now over USD 500. “What a job you've done,” Trump said to Nadella.

Nadella thanked Trump “for bringing us all together” and for the policies he has put in place for the United States to lead in the sector.

Nadella said that it is not just innovation that makes the industry unique, “but it's the market access that you (Trump) have obviously championed for us all over the world and also the trust the world has in American technology.

“I think that everything that you are 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 your policies are really helping a lot,” Nadella said.

The Microsoft chief also expressed gratitude to the First Lady for “hosting what I think is perhaps the most defining issue, which is about skilling and economic opportunity that comes with AI.”

Trump lauded Nadella, saying “A really amazing job you've done.”

Earlier, First Lady Melania hosted a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education alongside members of the Task Force and private sector leaders from American industry. Among the technology leaders participating in the task force meeting were Pichai and IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna.

Speaking after Nadella, Gates remarked that he is in the second phase of his career “giving away all the wonderful money that Satya’s good work has helped multiply a lot,” prompting a laugh from Trump.

Trump asked Pichai about how much Google is investing in the US, to which the India-born CEO replied that the company will invest 250 billion dollars in the next two years in the country.

“It’s great. We are proud of you. A lot of jobs,” Trump said to Pichai.

The President then asked Nadella about Microsoft’s investment plans in the country, to which the Hyderabad-born tech leader said that the company is investing about 75-80 billion dollars each year in the US.

“Very good, thank you very much,” Trump said to Nadella.

Later, Trump, responding to questions from the media at the event, repeated his claim that he “settled” seven wars but did not mention the conflicts by name. Then he went on to say that he settled three wars that had been going on for 31, 34 and 37 years. 

He also said he would be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future. “We are having a very good dialogue,” Trump said.

Among the leaders attending the White House dinner were Google founder Sergey Brin, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle CEO Safra Catz.