Several prominent tech leaders plan to attend Donald Trump’s inauguration this month, the latest sign that the industry is trying to strengthen its relationship with the president-elect before his return to the White House.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman plans to attend swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, a company spokesperson said. Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also plans to attend the event, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information. A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment.
According to the company, Uber Technologies Inc. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will be present at some of the festivities surrounding the ceremony. Uber also plans to host a launch party in Washington with Elon Musk’s social media company X and The Free Press, a media company.
Coinbase Global Inc. CEO Brian Armstrong has been invited to events related to the inauguration, including a presidential dinner, the company said.
The prospect of a second Trump term has created a new set of uncertainties for the artificial intelligence marketwhich is rapidly evolving, and for the technology industry in general. During his first term, Trump clashed with Silicon Valley on issues such as immigration and online content moderation. He has also previously directed his ire at executives such as Zuckerberg and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos.
In recent weeks, Meta and Amazon pledged to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Zuckerberg and Bezos have also dined with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. And Zuckerberg has been tweaking his suite of social media apps to make them more Trump-friendly, including eliminating outside fact-checking and loosening rules on what people can say on the service.
Meanwhile, Altman personally donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund after previously donating money to the 2024 re-election campaign of President Joe Biden.
“I think artificial intelligence will probably develop during this president’s term, and getting it right seems really important,” Altman told Bloomberg Businessweek in a recent interview, referring to a hypothetical, advanced form of AI. “Supporting the investiture, I think, is something relatively small. I don’t see it as a big decision in any way.. But I think we should all wish the president success.”
Trump’s party promised in its platform to undo Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence, saying it “imposes radical left ideas” on the field. With Trump’s victory, Musk has also gained new influence in Washington. That has raised concerns that Musk could implement policies that favor his own companies, including his artificial intelligence startup xAI. Altman, whose company is in a legal battle with Musk, recently said he does not believe the billionaire will use his political power against rivals like OpenAI.
In addition to Altman, OpenAI President Greg Brockman and Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil also plan to attend the opening, according to a company spokesperson. OpenAI has also hired a lobbying firm run by a well-known figure in Trump’s world, Jeff Miller, according to a filing.
