WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Silicon Valley’s biggest names at a White House dinner, hailing them as “a high-IQ group” leading a new business revolution.
Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and Oracle’s CEO Safra Catz were among the dozen-plus tech heavyweights in attendance. Trump sat beside Zuckerberg, while Gates was seated next to first lady Melania Trump.
“You and your policies are really helping a lot,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the president. AMD CEO Lisa Su praised “the amount of acceleration that we’ve seen just in the few short months that the administration has been in place.” Oracle CEO Safra Catz struck a note of adoration at “the fact that you are our president” and that Trump quickly recognized the importance of AI. “You’ve unleashed American innovation and creativity — all the work you’re doing in basically every cabinet post in addition to what’s coming out of the White House is making it possible for America to win.”
The event turned spotlight when Gates praised Trump’s Operation Warp Speed and discussed breakthroughs in vaccine technology — hours after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, sparred with senators on Capitol Hill.
Notably absent: Tesla and X chief Elon Musk, who later wrote on his platform, “I was invited, but unfortunately could not attend.” Musk has had a rocky relationship with Trump in recent months after publicly criticizing his administration and teasing the launch of a new “America Party.”