President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration will bring together some of the nation's most prominent technology leaders this week, highlighting the fruits of the industry's months-long effort to find peace with the president-elect.
Between donations to the inauguration, trips to Mar-a-Lago, and policy changes, the tech giants have made strides in their relationship with President Trump. President Trump has spent years bashing traditionally deep-blue Silicon Valley companies.
The new relationship between the industry and the president-elect was on full display Monday, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai The CEO and others are expected to be present nearby.
“The president-elect is promoting these people, giving them a seat at the podium, and essentially making them captive to his policy decisions,” said Daniel Alpert, managing partner at investment firm Westwood Capital. said.
“The market is perceiving President Trump as showing support for these companies, but in reality, what President Trump is doing is more like organized crime,” Alpert added. “It's an offer he can't refuse. He's taken them all in, essentially saying, 'I'm yours and you owe me.'”
Technology industry leaders were originally scheduled to sit on the podium. The podium was reserved for members of President Trump's family, former presidents and other prominent guests.
Seating arrangements are currently unknown after the ceremony was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda due to expected cold temperatures.
Other technology leaders will also be in attendance, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, and TikTok CEO Xiang Zhi Chu, The Hill reported. I admitted it. Apple CEO Tim Cook is also reportedly scheduled to attend.
The chorus of tech company leaders standing near President Trump on Monday would have been an unlikely sight during his first administration. In 2016, many of these same people expressed concern about Trump's rise in politics.
But last year, as Mr. Trump's third presidential bid gained momentum, Silicon Valley seemed ready to forget the past.
In the months and weeks leading up to Election Day, technology industry leaders reached out to Trump.
Mr. Cook spoke on the phone about Apple's concerns about Europe, and Mr. Pichai touted the web traffic brought in by Mr. Trump's campaign photoshoot at McDonald's.
Zuckerberg called Trump after the assassination attempt in July, which Mehta later described as “sucking.”
Leaders quickly congratulated Trump on his re-election, and companies including Meta, Google and Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.
And unexpected figures like Mr. Altman, a longtime Democratic donor who said last month that he believes Mr. Trump “will lead our country into the 'Age of Nations,'” have given away $1 million of his personal funds. provided. [artificial intelligence]. ”
Some observers in Washington were quick to characterize these moves as an attempt to make amends with Trump before he returns to the Oval Office.
“If you look at the technology industry, a lot of these founders probably want to be on the good side of the president of the United States,” said Republican strategist Brittany Martinez. “I think this is probably helpful in general. You don't want to be the enemy of the most powerful individual in the world.”
Those executives may be interested in a settlement with Mr. Trump, but Mr. Alpert suggested that Mr. Trump may not participate in the settlement for the same reasons.
“This guy is very transactional,” he said. “He just uses these players to the extent he thinks they're worth.”
“And when they no longer feel valued, when you see that they're not producing anything for themselves, especially when there's a huge uptick in opposition to them in Congress and you need to buy votes. He’ll sell them out,” Alpert said. continued.
But some believe this is to be expected as the industry prepares for a new commander-in-chief.
“There's some respect for the incoming administration, but historically it's been the norm. Top business leaders bowing to the will of their voters and attending inauguration ceremonies are like new oligarchy. I don't think it's a thing,” said Matt Calkins, co-founder and CEO of cloud computing and enterprise software company Appian. .
Still, Democrats are fiercely opposed to the new dynamic.
In his farewell speech last week, President Biden expressed concern that an “oligarchy” of “extreme wealth, power and influence” was forming in the United States, and directly criticized President Trump and his billionaire allies. Although he did not name names, Mr. Mehta continued to criticize Mr. Mehta to put an end to the fact. – Check program amidst the threat of misinformation and disinformation.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) quipped, “Billionaires are in charge.”
“People who want to addict our children to their technology and control our thoughts and actions are destroying small businesses so they can own everything,” he said. . I wrote it on social platform X last week. “We'll find out on Monday.”
The launch comes after a dramatic few weeks in the tech space, marked by major changes to content moderation at Meta, and TikTok's parent company facing a long-awaited deadline to exit the platform or be banned in the US. are
Trump has drastically changed his view of TikTok over the past year. Despite trying to ban the app in his first term, he recently returned for a second term to try to find a way to keep it active in the United States.
The app's fate now rests largely in President Trump's hands. On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the anti-divestment law, but the Biden administration said it would leave enforcement to the next president.
Mr. Chu appears to have made inroads with Mr. Trump himself, earning him a seat at the inauguration along with other U.S.-based technology leaders. He is also scheduled to attend President Trump's “victory rally” in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. washington post was reported, and TikTok reportedly spent $50,000 At the inauguration party of influencers who supported President Trump's campaign message.
Chu thanked the president-elect for his promise to make the app available in the United States, calling it a “strong stand against the First Amendment and arbitrary censorship.”
In the weeks leading up to Trump's inauguration, Zuckerberg announced an overhaul of Meta's content moderation policies, including eliminating its third-party fact-checking program and introducing a community-based system called “Community Notes.” This included the introduction of a program for
The company also rolled back some LGBTQ protections on its platform and cut its diversity, equity, and inclusion team and related programs.
Zuckerberg cited the recent election in announcing the policy change, saying, “It felt like a cultural tipping point to prioritize speech again.” The move was widely seen as part of an effort to align the company more with the incoming Trump administration.
While leaders may never admit exactly what drew them to Trump, some observers believe Musk played a key role in their growing engagement with the president-elect. This suggests that there is a high possibility that
“They're scared as hell. They don't want an oligarchy led only by companies with “We want it to be,” Alpert said.
The inauguration will be the stage for Musk to meet many of his biggest competitors in technology and industry, including companies with which he has publicly clashed over the years.
Mr. Musk and Mr. Bezos had an argument on social media as recently as last November, with the Tesla CEO telling people that Mr. Trump was “definitely going to lose” and encouraging them to sell their shares in Mr. Musk's company, the Amazon founder said. criticized.
Mr. Bezos' Blue Origin has struggled to catch up with Mr. Musk's SpaceX, but Two people showed up Last week, they changed their tone and supported each other's business ventures.
Since then, Musk has posted several posts on X comparing himself to Bezos. The main character of the movie “Step Brothers” It suggests a thaw in the relationship.
Meanwhile, Mr. Musk has repeatedly taken on Mr. Zuckerberg and is currently suing Altman and OpenAI, accusing the artificial intelligence company he helped found in 2015 to have abandoned its original mission.
