Tech industry leaders including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, and Microsoft Corp.’s Satya Nadella are expected to attend an artificial intelligence event hosted by First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday and then join President Donald Trump for an evening reception in the newly renovated Rose Garden.
Other attendees are expected to include OpenAI Inc.’s Sam Altman, Alphabet Inc.’s Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, a White House official said. Alexandr Wang, who recently joined Meta’s AI effort, also is among the invitees.
The first lady announced last month that she was launching a presidential challenge to encourage students to use emerging AI technology to find solutions to community challenges. The effort will also encourage educators to adopt AI in the classroom, the White House has said.
Representatives for Meta and OpenAI declined to comment. Spokespeople for Microsoft, OpenAI, and Apple and Alphabet’s Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The Rose Garden Club at the White House is the hottest place to be in Washington, or perhaps the world. The president looks forward to welcoming top business, political, and tech leaders for this dinner and the many dinners to come on the new, beautiful Rose Garden patio,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to The Hill, which first reported the event and its list of expected guests.
Trump recently installed stone pavers in the Rose Garden after complaining that the existing grass was unsuitable for hosting large events. The president has also overseen the installation of patio tables, umbrellas and a sound system that together recreate the vibe of the patio at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
During his second term, Trump has actively courted AI firms as part of a broader push to promote domestic manufacturing, with billions of dollars in corporate commitments helping to drive data center construction. He’s also indicated that some companies — including Apple — could escape his planned tariffs on products including semiconductors after announcing expanded domestic manufacturing plans.
White House AI czar David Sacks — who will also attend Thursday’s event — helped unveil in July a sweeping action plan calling for the administration to reduce regulation of artificial intelligence and step up research and development efforts.
The White House has also signaled that it’s looking to support leading AI chipmakers Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Those companies have said they plan to resume the sale of some AI chips in China after securing US government assurances that the transactions would be approved, a reversal from Trump’s earlier stance seeking to block those shipments in a bid to rein in China’s AI ambitions.
— With assistance from Riley Griffin, Shirin Ghaffary, Newley Purnell, and Matt Day
bloomberg.com |
