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Heads of the largest US tech companies have lined up to back an artificial intelligence initiative spearheaded by first lady Melania Trump, as the industry rushes to show support and curry favour with the administration.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and other CEOs including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook gathered at the White House on Thursday, as tech executives endorsed a plan to help America’s children learn to use AI.
The scene was reminiscent of President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, when powerful Silicon Valley leaders attended after donating millions of dollars to the president’s inaugural committee.
Tech bosses have worked to ingratiate themselves with Trump since last year’s election as they seek looser regulation, greater public subsidies and relief from tariffs for their companies. Many also face the prospect of break-up in a raft of antitrust lawsuits brought by the government.
Crossing the president has proved perilous, as Trump has lashed out against individual companies — and threatened targeted tariffs against groups such as Apple — to bring them in line with his agenda on issues including promoting US manufacturing and absorbing the costs of tariffs.
Microsoft on Thursday said it will support the White House’s AI initiative by offering all US college students free use of its Copilot AI. Nadella also pledged to expand the Copilot program to primary and secondary school students and teachers as part of its commitment to donate $4bn in cash and AI services to education in the next five years.
“We are so grateful to the president, first lady and the entire administration for making it a national priority to prepare the next generation to harness AI’s power,” Nadella said in a video on X.
Altman announced an OpenAI jobs platform and a certification programme working with employers including Walmart. The company committed to accrediting 10mn Americans by 2030 after they complete AI training through its online platform.
The OpenAI co-founder has spent this year building ties with the Trump administration, after previous criticism of the president. He has showcased his company’s technology to lawmakers and White House staff and emphasised the potential impact of AI on the American economy.
Google’s Pichai joined the chorus on Thursday, highlighting the company’s plan to invest $1bn in AI-powered education in the next three years.
“It’s an honour for me to be here and to support the first lady’s presidential AI challenge. Through this initiative, you are inspiring young people,” he said. “We are incredibly thankful for the partnership of everyone in this room, and to the first lady and the administration for leading the way.”
Notably absent from Thursday’s events was Elon Musk, who publicly fell out with Trump earlier this year after leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Musk, who owns AI company xAI, said he had been invited but sent a representative in his stead.
Others invited to Thursday’s proceedings, which include a dinner with President Trump, were Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Google founder Sergey Brin, Oracle chief executive Safra Catz, and Palantir executive Shyam Sankar, a White House official said.
Also on the list were Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, now working at Meta, Jared Isaacman, a former nominee to lead Nasa and investor in Musk’s SpaceX, and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.
Big Tech groups are among more than a hundred signatories that have pledged to support the first lady’s AI education scheme. Melania Trump last month launched the presidential AI challenge, which seeks to foster students and educators’ interest in the technology.
“We must ensure America’s talent, our workforce, is prepared to sustain AI’s progress,” she said on Thursday.
However, Melania Trump has also been an advocate of stronger controls on artificially generated images and videos, supporting the Take It Down Act that criminalises posting revenge porn or deepfakes and mandates tech companies to remove such content within 48 hours.
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