US President Donald Trump invited some of the most influential faces of the global technology industry to the White House on Thursday night for the rare and closely watched dinner. The meeting is showcased as Silicon Valley's renewed partnership with the Trump administration, as Silicon Valley's top names committed to the largest American investments ever in artificial intelligence and the country's digital infrastructure.
Sitting next to the president, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company would invest "at least $600 billion" in the United States by 2028. He said the money would be used to build new data centers and infrastructure to fuel the next wave of innovation. Trump praised the move, noting that Meta is already building a $50 billion data center in Louisiana.
Trump grilled each executive around the table for numbers, driving home investment commitments. Tim Cook of Apple expressed his support, and Sundar Pichai of Google promised $250 billion in planned expenditures. Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, said the company was capable of investing as much as $80 billion a year. Trump told the group, "This is taking our country to a new level," calling them "high IQ people" shaping the future.
Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk was not present at the high-profile dinner party. A one-time ally of Trump, Musk said that he had been invited but decided not to go, sending a representative instead. The absence followed tensions between the two former friends after Musk reportedly disagreed with many of Trump's policies, including his 'big beautiful bill.'
The guest list spoke to the importance of the gathering. Guests such as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, OpenAI founder Greg Brockman, Oracle CEO Safra Catz, IBM chairman Arvind Krishna, Blue Origin CEO David Limp, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Palantir executive Shyam Sankar, Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, TIBCO Software chairman Vivek Ranadive, and Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman were in attendance.
The dinner followed a gathering of the newly established White House Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force, led by First Lady Melania Trump. It also came after Trump threatened trade sanctions against nations that block US tech companies, including the European Union. Since resuming office in January, Trump has reversed international aid priorities and scaled back global vaccine funding in favor of focusing on domestic technology and production.
For the president, Thursday night's gathering served political and economic ambitions alike. By locking down commitments for tens of billions of dollars in corporate spending, Trump unveiled a bet on American innovation, yet also showed his determination to tether more manufacturing activity to American soil. His administration has signaled that companies making significant investments in domestic projects could qualify for exemptions from tariffs under his economic plan.
Trump's Silicon Valley alliance could become crucial as the 2026 midterm elections draw near. Now, some executives who were more aloof in his first term are coming closer, joining him on the policy forays into artificial intelligence, misinformation, and diversity efforts. Well into the trillions of dollars of investment commitments promised, the White House dinner showcased both Trump's political pull and the clout of an industry that has become increasingly important in the financial landscape of America's future.
