'High IQ Table': Trump Hosts AI Titans at White House Dinner — With Two Big Names Missing

President Donald Trump brought America's most powerful tech leaders to the State Dining Room on 4 September at the White House, pressing each for concrete US investment figures tied to AI infrastructure and advanced manufacturing; Apple's Tim Cook and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg each cited $600bn, Google's Sundar Pichai said $250bn, and Microsoft's Satya Nadella put annual outlay at up to $80bn. Elon Musk did not attend.

The event reflected a renewed alignment between the Trump administration and the tech sector as the US seeks to retain global AI leadership.

A Microcosm of Tech and Politics

President Trump described the gathering as a 'high-IQ group', swathed in formal dinner ambience and marked by mutual affirmations of pro-innovation ambitions. Attendees took turns applauding the administration's support for domestic investment in chip manufacturing and AI.

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Apple's Tim Cook both announced $600 billion investment plans in the US, while Google's Sundar Pichai reported a $250 billion outlay. Microsoft's Satya Nadella cited $80 billion per annum.

Cook credited the president's tone-setting as key to deepening US manufacturing; OpenAI's Sam Altman echoed the sentiment, describing Trump as a 'pro-business, pro-innovation' President. Bill Gates used the moment to discuss accelerating innovation to advance disease eradication efforts.

Who Was There and Who Wasn't

The guest list was a who's who of tech royalty: Google's Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin, Apple's Tim Cook, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, Microsoft's Bill Gates and Satya Nadella, IBM's Arvind Krishna, Oracle's Safra Catz, Micron's Sanjay Mehrotra, Palantir's Shyam Sankar, TIBCO's Vivek Ranadivé, Blue Origin's David Limp, Scale AI's Alexandr Wang, and Shift4 Payments' Jared Isaacman, among others.

Notable absences included Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who had a public falling-out with Trump earlier in the year. They declined to attend, sending a representative to the New York Post instead of Musk.

Why It Matters

The dinner symbolised a thaw in relations between tech leaders and the Trump administration. It followed a White House task force event on AI education held earlier that day by First Lady Melania Trump, a coordinated effort to demonstrate alignment on innovation, regulation, and investment.

Trump himself emphasised addressing energy and permit hurdles that hinder data-centre expansion. He acknowledged the need to 'make it very easy for you... in terms of electric capacity and getting... permits for AI infrastructure.

For major tech firms, the event provided an opportunity to publicly affirm their loyalty or at least neutrality amid increasing regulatory scrutiny. For the President, it reinforced a narrative of American comeback powered by science, entrepreneurship, and industry partnership.

What Comes Next

Though no binding deals were struck, sources suggest follow-up meetings are planned to explore public-private AI infrastructure projects.

The continued absence of Musk, Nvidia, and other executives underscores ongoing divisions within the tech ecosystem.

Follow-up meetings are expected on data centre siting, grid upgrades, and workforce programmes. Analysts will track whether the 'AI infrastructure' sums translate into capital expenditure, given regulatory, supply chain, and power availability hurdles.