At a dinner hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump, technology industry leaders including Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook pledged to increase their investment commitments in the United States. This scene reflects the increasingly close relationship between Trump and Silicon Valley.
In his opening remarks, Trump addressed a key concern for tech companies: ensuring sufficient energy to meet the growing power demands of data centers driving the artificial intelligence boom.
On Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (left) joined Trump at this technology industry gathering in the White House State Dining Room.
The Washington dinner brought together executives and founders from some of the world's most valuable technology companies, making it a rare assembly. Attendees also included OpenAI Inc. CEO Sam Altman, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and co-founder Sergey Brin, as well as Microsoft Corporation CEO Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates. These companies are currently engaged in fierce competition in the emerging field of artificial intelligence.
**CEOs Reaffirm U.S. Investment Commitments**
Trump invited each executive to present their plans, with leaders taking turns emphasizing their commitment to expanding operations in the United States and expressing gratitude for government policies they believe will benefit AI development. Zuckerberg was the first invited to speak.
Zuckerberg told Trump: "Every company here is actively building and making significant investments in the United States to construct data centers and infrastructure to drive the next wave of technological innovation." When Trump pressed for specific investment amounts, Zuckerberg responded with "at least $600 billion" by the end of 2028.
"That's truly a massive investment," Trump replied. He has frequently highlighted Meta's plan to invest $50 billion in building a large data center in Louisiana.
To encourage U.S. investment and ensure America's leadership in critical technologies, Trump has successfully attracted support from numerous tech executives through his agenda of reducing corporate tax burdens and regulatory constraints. Artificial intelligence has become a particular focus.
David Sacks, Trump's appointed White House AI director and Silicon Valley venture capitalist, spearheaded the government's release of a comprehensive action plan in July, calling for relaxed AI regulations, enhanced research and development, and increased domestic energy production to support energy-intensive data center operations.
Trump has secured infrastructure investment commitments totaling hundreds of billions of dollars from multiple companies, primarily to support AI development. On Thursday, the White House also praised Hitachi Energy's announcement of over $1 billion in investment to strengthen grid infrastructure, addressing the growing power demands from artificial intelligence.
More broadly, several companies have announced plans to increase U.S. investments to avoid tariffs Trump has imposed on imported goods to promote domestic production of critical products. Trump indicated that some companies committing to U.S. production may receive certain tariff relief.
Apple CEO Tim Cook thanked Trump at Thursday's White House dinner, saying government policies "have laid the foundation for us to make major investments." Apple committed an additional $100 billion to U.S. domestic manufacturing last month, bringing its total U.S. investment to $600 billion.
Trump stated that Cook's investment will help Apple mitigate the impact of planned U.S. government tariffs on imported semiconductors. "Tim Cook will be in good shape," Trump said.
Trump's relationship with Silicon Valley has rapidly warmed since he took office in January. At that time, Zuckerberg, Cook, and Pichai, who donated millions to the inauguration, were seated in prominent positions. With midterm elections approaching next year to determine congressional control, Trump and his allies are positioned to again leverage support from these technology resources.