President Trump on Thursday led leaders of the world’s biggest technology companies in a version of his cabinet meetings, in which each participant takes a turn thanking and praising him, this time for his efforts to promote investments in chip manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

Tech titans including Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said “thank you” to the president, with some laying out how much their companies plan to invest in the U.S. 

“Thank you for being such a pro-business, pro-innovation president. It’s a very refreshing change,” Altman said. “I think it’s going to set us up for a long period of leading the world, and that wouldn’t be happening without your leadership.”

Cook said Apple is expected to invest $600 billion in the U.S. “I want to thank you for setting the tone such that we can make a major investment in the United States and have some key manufacturing here. I think it says a lot about your leadership and focus on innovation,” Cook said. 

The dinner underscored how closely the Trump administration has sought to work with technology-industry leaders on everything from domestic investment to AI education, as well as the industry’s eagerness to remain in the president’s good graces.

Several of the executives, including Altman, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai and IBM CEO and Chairman Arvind Krishna, were at the White House earlier in the day to attend the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education roundtable, hosted by first lady Melania Trump.

Companies including Microsoft, Nvidia, IBM, Amazon, Google and OpenAI announced AI education commitments in conjunction with Thursday’s event.

Trump wanted to use the dinner as a debut of the newly paved Rose Garden, and throughout the day White House staff worked to set up white tables outside on the patio. But rain pushed the meal inside to the dining room, where Trump and the first lady were surrounded by tech executives and senior administration officials, including AI and crypto czar David Sacks and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

“The most brilliant people are gathered at this table,” Trump said. “This is definitely a high IQ group.” 

Trump opened the dinner by remarking on a significant obstacle for tech companies: procuring enough electricity to power massive data centers needed to develop AI. His administration has been working to remove roadblocks to connecting data centers to the grid, though many challenges exist at the state level.

“I know everybody at the table indirectly through reading about you and studying, knowing a lot about your business, actually making it very easy for you in terms of electric capacity and getting it for you, getting your permits,” he said. 

President Trump and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was seated directly to the president’s right, were asked about a crackdown on speech in the U.K.

Zuckerberg, who seemed startled by a question directed at him, responded that he hadn’t been listening.

Trump then turned to him and said: “This is the beginning of your political career.”

“No, it’s not,” Zuckerberg responded with a chuckle.

Trump also addressed Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai about a federal judge’s ruling this week on an antitrust case related to Google’s monopoly in search. The judge levied relatively light penalties and rejected the most significant measures sought by the Justice Department, which filed the lawsuit in 2020.

“You had a very good day yesterday,” Trump said. “Do you want to talk about that big day you had yesterday?”

“I’m glad it’s over,” Pichai said.

“Biden was the one who prosecuted that lawsuit,” Trump said. “You know that, right?”

Absent from the gathering was Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO feuded with Trump upon leaving his  White House role in May, although the two have since been more conciliatory in public. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was absent, too. Huang was also a notable no-show at Trump’s inauguration, but has been successful in pleading his interests with the president, notably winning permission to sell Nvidia AI chips in China. People familiar with Huang’s thinking said he prefers to interface with the White House in one-on-one settings where the president has enough time to focus on substantive issues.