Tech billionaires Zuckerberg, Bezos and Altman help bankroll Trump’s inauguration. What to know
Tech executives, attempting to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump, are opening up their wallets after the former president staged a historic return to the White House.
OpenAI confirmed on Friday that its chief executive, Sam Altman, is planning to personally donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, becoming the latest tech billionaire trying to improve their rocky relationship with the new administration.
Meta, parent company of popular social media apps Facebook and Instagram, also confirmed it donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Amazon didn’t respond to a request for comment, but it is reportedly planning to donate the same amount to Trump’s inaugural fund.
While tech companies have given to previous presidential inaugurations, the donations come as Trump and Republicans look at reshaping policies that impact social media, electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and more.
Trump’s views on artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, electric vehicles and other issues could reshape the tech industry.
Trump has criticized Big Tech in the past, accusing some of the world’s largest online platforms such as Meta and Google of censoring conservative speech. The platforms have long denied these allegations, but the tech industry’s relationship with Republicans became increasingly fraught after social media companies temporarily suspended Trump’s accounts following the Jan. 6, 2001, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
During Trump’s first presidency, tech executives, including from Google, Facebook and Apple, clashed with his administration for banning immigrants from certain Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
Trump’s campaign, backed by Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk, and other major tech companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Here are the tech executives and companies that have donated to Trump’s inauguration:
OpenAI
Altman said in a statement that “President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI” and Altman was “eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead.”
Federal and state lawmakers, including in California, have been trying to place guardrails around the development of artificial intelligence. While AI-powered tools can make it easier for people to sift through large amounts of information, the technology’s rapid development has also raised concerns about national security, disinformation and job losses.
But as tech companies face stiff competition, including from China, they’re also worried that regulation could slow them down.
Trump has said he plans to reverse President Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI, which aimed to address some of the safety concerns surrounding AI, and analysts anticipate Trump could make a big push for AI innovation.
Altman has also sparred with Musk, a vocal supporter of Trump who spent at least $200 million to back the former president’s 2024 campaign and is looking at ways to slash government spending, over AI safety concerns. Musk, an early investor in OpenAI who also runs rival AI startup XAI, has accused the company of putting profits and commercial interests ahead of the public good. OpenAI, controlled by a nonprofit board, is reportedly trying to restructure as a for-profit benefit corporation.
At the New York Times DealBook Summit this year, Altman didn’t appear too worried about Musk’s strong ties to Trump. “I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that it would be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon would hurt competitors and advantage his own businesses,” he said.
Meta
It’s the first time Meta has donated to a presidential inaugural fund, but the company has previously supported both parties’ convention committees, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in an e-mail.
Meta’s $1-million donation to the Trump inaugural fund was made at Zuckerberg’s request, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Zuckerberg, who expressed concerns about Trump’s immigration policies during his first presidency, has been strengthening ties with Trump. He met with Trump over dinner at his private Mar-a-Lago club and gifted him a pair of Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, according to the Journal.
After an attempted assassination of Trump in July, Zuckerberg told Bloomberg in an interview that Trump’s reaction of raising his fist in the air was “one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Trump’s campaign has floated proposals that would affect online platforms including legislation to “drastically limit the ability of big social media platforms to restrict free speech.”
Amazon
Bezos is also trying to win over Trump and plans to meet the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago club next week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The e-commerce giant contributed to Trump’s first presidential inauguration in 2017, donating roughly $58,000. (Biden reportedly wasn’t accepting tech donations for his 2021 inauguration.)
Trump has sparred with Amazon in the past, falsely accusing the Bezos-owned Washington Post of being a lobbyist for the tech giant. Trump also accused Amazon of a “post office scam.”
Bezos’ companies could benefit from Trump administration policies. Amazon Web Services and its space company, Blue Origin, which competes with SpaceX, has contracts with the federal government and has been striking a more friendly tone with Trump, according to a report from the Washington Post.
Elon Musk’s ties to the Trump administration pose potential conflicts of interest for his various businesses that have extensive contracts with the federal government.
At the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Bezos appeared optimistic about the new administration and noted that Trump “seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.”
“If I can help him do that, I’m going to help him, because we do have too much regulation in this country,” Bezos said.
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