President Donald Trump hosted a who’s who of tech leaders at the White House on Sept. 4, emphasizing an alliance between the administration and the AI industry. Attendees, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, expressed appreciation to Trump for his support of American innovation.

Perhaps conspicuously missing were former Trump confidant and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said he was invited but did not attend, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang; sources reached by The Wall Street Journal said Huang prefers one-on-one meetings.

The dinner took place after the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education roundtable, which was hosted by First Lady Melania Trump. She recently announced the Presidential AI Challenge for students.

AI innovation is a matter of ‘leading the world,’ Altman tells Trump

“The investment that’s happening here, the ability to get the power of the industry back in the United States, is going to set us up for a long period of great success leading the world — and I don’t think that would be happening without your leadership,” Altman said to Trump.

The assembled executives praised the Trump administration for its support of the tech industry, particularly generative AI and the associated infrastructure.

Major pledges from the tech industry

“This is quite a group to get together — and I think all of the companies here are making huge investments in the country in order to build out data centers and infrastructure to power the next wave of innovation,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta has pledged $600 billion in such investments through 2028.

“We’ve been just very impressed with how this Administration has really embraced AI,” said OpenAI President Greg Brockman. “In addition to the most massive infrastructure building in history… There has been a choice of whether to approach it with optimism, and I think that that’s what I’ve really seen from this Administration, so I just wanted to say thank you for that.”

Other executives in the group have made similar infrastructure commitments, including Apple’s $600 billion.

Tech focus when reshaping the US economy

Trump has been reshaping the American economy with a focus on tech, imposing tariffs to restrict imports, renegotiating Nvidia’s already limited business in China, and endorsing a $500 billion target for Stargate, Oracle, and OpenAI’s infrastructure project. He also established a US cryptocurrency reserve.

“It’s a real incredible inflection point right now in AI, and the fact that your Administration is supporting our companies instead of fighting with them — it’s hugely important. It’s a global race and I think we’re at the cusp where these AI models are about to become profoundly useful… so we’re very grateful for your Administration’s support,” said Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Japanese company Hitachi Energy is the latest to invest in US AI infrastructure, pledging  $1 billion in grid equipment in an initiative lauded by US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.