"To please" Trump, Silicon Valley giants "gather at the White House" to support the "First Lady's" AI plan

American tech giants seem to be "catering" to Washington.

According to a report by the Financial Times on September 4, recently, tech leaders including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook gathered at the White House to endorse a program initiated by First Lady Melania Trump aimed at "helping American children learn to use AI."

At the dinner that evening, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates sat on either side of the Trump couple.

Altman expressed gratitude during his speech, thanking President Trump for being "such a pro-business, pro-innovation president," while Nadella and Pichai also expressed strong support. These statements were accompanied by tangible commitments, including significant investment plans announced by companies like Microsoft and Google.

This dinner took place at a time when the tech industry is facing immense pressure from the U.S. government. From an increasing number of antitrust lawsuits to tariff threats from the president himself, establishing a good relationship with this administration seems to have become a priority for tech companies to mitigate risks.

Notably, Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not attend the event, as the two had previously had significant disagreements over the "Great American Rescue Plan."

Giants Compete to Commit Billions to AI Education

Microsoft has pledged to provide its Copilot AI service for free to all American college students and plans to expand the program to K-12 teachers and students. Nadella stated that this is part of the company's commitment to donate $4 billion in cash and AI services to the education sector over the next five years. In a video posted on social media platform X, he said:

We are very grateful to the president, the first lady, and the entire government for making the cultivation of the next generation's AI capabilities a national priority.

OpenAI announced the launch of an AI employment platform and certification program aimed at collaborating with employers like Walmart. Altman committed to providing AI skills certification to 10 million Americans through its online training platform by 2030.

Google also joined the support, emphasizing that the company plans to invest $1 billion in AI-driven education over the next three years. He stated:

I am honored to be here supporting the First Lady's Presidential AI Challenge. We are very grateful for the collaboration of everyone present, and we thank the First Lady and this administration for their leadership.

Behind the Goodwill: Strategic Considerations Amid Antitrust and Tariffs

The collective goodwill shown by tech giants towards the White House has profound strategic motives behind it. Since last year's election, tech executives have been striving to build a harmonious relationship with the Trump administration in hopes of obtaining looser regulations, more public subsidies, and tariff reductions.

However, they are facing an increasingly harsh policy environment. Reports indicate that many companies are facing antitrust lawsuits initiated by the government and may even face the risk of business breakups. Meanwhile, the cost of opposing the president's views has proven to be high. Trump has repeatedly publicly criticized individual companies and threatened to impose targeted tariffs on companies like Apple to force compliance with policies including "Made in America." Against this backdrop, President Trump praised the CEOs present at the event on Thursday, stating that his administration is committed to facilitating the construction of computing centers necessary for AI development, including "power capacity and... obtaining permits." This statement is undoubtedly a positive signal for the tech industry eager to expand infrastructure.

Tech Leaders Gather, Musk's Absence Draws Attention

According to a White House official, in addition to several CEOs, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, and Palantir executive Shyam Sankar were also invited to attend. The invitation list also included Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang (currently working at Meta), venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, among others.

Among the many well-known faces, Elon Musk's absence is particularly noteworthy. The entrepreneur, who owns the AI company xAI, stated that he received an invitation but sent a representative to attend on his behalf.

Earlier, Musk publicly fell out with Trump earlier this year after leading the so-called "Department of Government Efficiency" due to a series of events including the "Great Beautiful Act."