Heads of the largest US tech companies have lined up to back an artificial intelligence initiative spearheaded by first lady Melania Trump, as the industry rushes to show support and curry favour with the administration.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and other CEOs including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook gathered at the White House, as tech executives endorsed a plan to help America’s children learn to use AI.
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates flanked Donald and Melania Trump at a dinner with officials and tech leaders, following a round-table event on education earlier on Thursday.
The US president praised the tech CEOs and said his administration was making it “easy” to build the data centres needed for AI, with “electric capacity and . . . getting your permits”.
RM Block
The scenes were reminiscent of Trump’s inauguration in January, when powerful Silicon Valley leaders attended after donating millions of dollars to his inaugural committee.
Tech bosses have worked to ingratiate themselves with Mr Trump since last year’s election as they seek looser regulation, greater public subsidies and relief from tariffs for their companies. Many also face the prospect of break-up in numerous antitrust lawsuits brought by the government.
Crossing the president has proved perilous, as Mr Trump has lashed out against individual companies – and threatened targeted tariffs against groups such as Apple – to bring them in line with his agenda on issues including promoting US manufacturing and absorbing the costs of tariffs.
On Thursday, Microsoft said it would support the White House’s AI initiative by offering all US college students free use of its Copilot AI. Mr Nadella also pledged to expand the Copilot programme to primary and secondary school students and teachers as part of its commitment to donate $4 billion (€3.41 billion) in cash and AI services to education in the next five years.
“We are so grateful to the president, first lady and the entire administration for making it a national priority to prepare the next generation to harness AI’s power,” Mr Nadella said in a video on X.
Mr Altman announced an OpenAI jobs platform and a certification programme working with employers including Walmart. The company committed to accrediting 10 million Americans by 2030 after they complete AI training through its online platform.
The OpenAI co-founder has spent this year building ties with the Trump administration after previous criticism of the president. Mr Altman has showcased his company’s technology to lawmakers and White House staff and emphasised the potential impact of AI on the US economy.
“Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change. We’re very excited to see what you’re doing to make all of our companies and our entire country so successful,” Mr Altman said at the White House dinner.
Google’s Mr Pichai joined the chorus earlier on Thursday, highlighting the company’s plan to invest $1 billion in AI-powered education in the next three years.
“It’s an honour for me to be here and to support the first lady’s presidential AI challenge. Through this initiative, you are inspiring young people,” he said. “We are incredibly thankful for the partnership of everyone in this room, and to the first lady and the administration for leading the way.”
Notably absent from the events was Elon Musk, who publicly fell out with Mr Trump earlier this year after leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Mr Musk, who owns AI company xAI, said he had been invited but sent a representative.
Other invitees included Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Oracle chief executive Safra Catz and Palantir executive Shyam Sankar, a White House official said.
Also on the list were Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang, now working at Meta, Jared Isaacman, a former nominee to lead Nasa and an investor in Mr Musk’s SpaceX, and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.
Big Tech groups are among more than 100 signatories that have pledged to support the first lady’s AI education scheme. Melania Trump last month launched the presidential AI challenge, which seeks to foster students and educators’ interest in the technology.
“We must ensure America’s talent, our workforce, is prepared to sustain AI’s progress,” she said.
However, Ms Trump has also been an advocate of stronger controls on artificially generated images and videos, supporting the Take It Down Act that criminalises posting revenge porn or deepfakes and mandates tech companies to remove such content within 48 hours. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
