US president Donald Trump on Thursday hosted a dinner at the White House with America's top tech leaders. The meeting focused on artificial intelligence and investments in the United States.
More than a dozen CEOs attended the event, including Bill Gates, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai. Trump, seated between first lady Melania Trump and Zuckerberg, asked each executive to share how much their companies were investing in America.
Here are the key takeaways from the dinner:Musk missing from guest listOne conspicuous absence was Elon Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX chief, once among Trump’s closest industry allies, has distanced himself in recent months following clashes over space policy and government contracts.
Strong Indian-American presenceFive Indian-origin executives — including Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Sundar Pichai (Google), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Vivek Ranadive (TIBCO) and Shyam Sankar (Palantir) — were at the table. Their presence underscored the growing clout of Indian Americans in Silicon Valley and Washington, even as Trump moved to crack down on immigration.
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Trump downplays jobs dataTrump brushed aside the significance of Friday’s jobs report, arguing that the “real economic numbers” will only be visible a year from now. He also downplayed current gains as being mostly construction-related and promised that the US would soon witness job growth “like our country has never seen before.”
Trump says he’ll speak to PutinWhen asked if he planned to speak with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump confirmed, “I will be, yeah. We’re having a very good dialogue.” The remark came as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags on with no ceasefire in sight. Trump added that resolving the conflict had turned out to be “a bit tougher” than he initially expected, despite his claimed success in settling seven other wars.
Google CEO relieved after antitrust case endsSundar Pichai thanked Trump, telling him, “I’m glad it’s over” after a US judge threw out a landmark case that sought to break up Google’s Chrome browser. The ruling sparked a surge in Alphabet’s market value, which crossed $2.5 trillion this week. For Pichai, the dinner was a chance to reset ties with an administration that had frequently accused Google of bias.
Gates backs Trump on vaccinesBill Gates openly praised Trump’s Covid-19 vaccine initiative, calling it a model for rapid medical innovation. He said Microsoft was committed to helping the US government in disease research and listed ongoing projects on HIV, polio and sickle cell. Gates’ comments were made just hours after RFK Jr’s contentious hearing over vaccine policy.
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Trump praises RFK JrTrump said he did not watch health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s Senate testimony but heard he performed “very well.” Calling Kennedy a “very good person” who “means very well,” Trump noted he appreciates his different ideas, even if they are contentious. The hearing itself was marked by heated clashes over Kennedy’s sweeping health care and vaccine policy changes.
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