Tech execs make billion-dollar AI commitments at Trump's White House dinner

Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook joined a select group of technology leaders at the White House on Thursday, at a dinner hosted by President Donald Trump to pledge larger U.S. spending on artificial intelligence.

The event showed Trump’s growing ties with Silicon Valley as companies race to expand data centers and research hubs across the country.

Trump opened the discussion by focusing on electricity needs for the new facilities that power AI systems. He told the executives the administration would move quickly on approvals and capacity. He said in the State Dining Room, “We’re making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits.”

He added, “We’re leading China by a lot, by a really, by a great amount.”

The dinner brought together a rare lineup of founders and chief executives from some of the world’s most valuable companies, all competing for an edge in AI. Those at the table included Sam Altman of OpenAI, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai and co-founder Sergey Brin, and Microsoft leaders Satya Nadella and Bill Gates. Moving around the table, the president asked each guest to lay out plans and commitments.

Corporate leaders highlighted U.S. expansion and thanked the administration for policies they said help speed projects.

Trump called on Zuckerberg 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,” Zuckerberg told the president.

Pressed for a figure, Zuckerberg said Meta would invest “at least $600 billion” through 2028. “That’s a lot,” Trump said in response. In recent days, the president has also touted a Meta data center in Louisiana with a price tag of $50 billion.

Officials say Trump’s strategy is attracting money for AI infrastructure

Trump is trying to win over tech companies by cutting taxes and loosening rules. He says this will bring more investment to the U.S. and keep it ahead in new technology. The main focus is artificial intelligence.

In July, the White House AI lead, Silicon Valley venture capitalist David Sacks, helped unveil a broad action plan calling for easing rules on artificial intelligence, stepping up research and development, and boosting domestic energy production to feed electricity-hungry data centers, moves the administration says are needed to keep an edge over rivals such as China.

The White House pointed to Hitachi Energy’s plan to invest over $1 billion in electric grid equipment to handle the growing power demands of AI. More companies are also launching U.S. projects to avoid new tariffs on imports. Trump has suggested that businesses building in the U.S. could get breaks from some of those tariffs.

Trump says Apple could sidestep chip tariffs

Cook told attendees that Apple last month committed an additional $100 billion for domestic manufacturing, bringing its total pledge to $600 billion.

He thanked Trump for “setting the tone such that we could make a major investment.” The president suggested that Apple’s commitment would help the company avoid tariffs on semiconductor imports that the administration plans to impose. “Tim Cook would be in pretty good shape,” Trump said of Apple’s position.

Trump’s ties with Silicon Valley strengthened at his January swearing-in, where Zuckerberg, Cook, and Pichai had prominent seats after donating millions to the inauguration. The president and his allies are expected to seek support again ahead of next year’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Earlier Thursday, many of the same executives joined first lady Melania Trump for a discussion on AI. She praised the business leaders as visionaries and urged cooperation to help guide the broader adoption of the technology.

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