Top technology executives pledged extensive investments in U.S. manufacturing and infrastructure during a White House dinner hosted by President Donald Trump, with remarks highlighting artificial intelligence, data centers and education. According to Deseret News, the gathering centered on positioning the United States at the forefront of global innovation.
Major commitments and focus on AI
Attendees discussed building out data centers and AI infrastructure. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, seated next to Trump, said the companies present were making “huge investments” in the U.S. “to build out data centers and infrastructure to power the next wave of innovation,” per Axios. Zuckerberg said Meta would spend at least $600 billion through 2028, Axios reported.
Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai described the administration’s AI action plan as “a great start” and said his company will invest $250 billion, according to The Hill. Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company will invest $600 billion and noted he had joined Trump in the Oval Office last month to announce Apple’s latest investment.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company will invest around $75 to $80 billion. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thanked the president “for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president,” calling the moment “a very refreshing change,” per The Wall Street Journal.
Who was at the table
Attendees and notable absence
There were 33 people at the dinner, including the president and first lady, tech executives and their partners. Deseret News, citing The Wall Street Journal, listed attendees including Sundar Pichai (Alphabet/Google), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Tim Cook (Apple), Safra Catz (Oracle), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Lisa Su (AMD), Greg Brockman (OpenAI), Sergey Brin (Google co-founder) and Bill Gates (Microsoft founder).
Elon Musk did not attend. According to Axios, Musk said he was invited but could not attend; the White House said Tesla had been invited and that a representative would be present.
Bill Gates, seated next to the first lady, spoke about his work on health, including vaccines and efforts to provide health care to Africa through AI. He thanked the president “for setting the tone such that we could make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing, advanced manufacturing here,” per The Hill.
Deseret News reported that Trump asked each CEO how much they planned to invest in the U.S. over the next few years, with executives emphasizing manufacturing, AI infrastructure and education as key themes.
