U.S. President-elect Donald Trump smiles to the crowd during the National Guard Association’s 146th Convention and Exhibition at the Huntington Square Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan, August 26, 2024.
Emily Erkonen | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Yuan CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos Has a particularly troubled past with the president-elect Donald Trump. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and MuskHe became one of Trump’s biggest supporters and was poised to play a major role in his second administration.
It all helps explain this week’s announcement about a donation to the Trump inaugural fund.
“President Trump will lead our country into the era of artificial intelligence, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure that America stays ahead,” Altman said in a statement on Friday. The company confirmed that Altman said he plans to make a personal donation of $1 million to the fund.
Yuan Weeks after Zuckerberg dined privately with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the company confirmed to CNBC that it donated $1 million to the inauguration. Amazon There are also reportedly plans to donate $1 million wall street journal.
Trump has been an outspoken critic of technology companies. send a signal Earlier this month, he said he would not shy away from antitrust enforcement. The incoming president has nominated Gail Slater, who advised Trump on tech policy during his first term, to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
“Big Tech has been working like crazy for years to stifle competition in our most innovative industries, and they have been known to use their market power to suppress the rights of many Americans as well as small tech companies!” Trump wrote in a post road truth society Slater’s nomination was announced. “I was proud to fight these abuses during my first term, and our Justice Department’s antitrust team will continue that work under Gale’s leadership.”
Some of Trump’s most hostile comments in the past have been directed at Amazon and Meta.
During his first term, Trump repeatedly attacked Bezos and his company, Amazon and the Washington Post, accusing them of tax evasion or publishing “fake news.” trump card He also pointed at me many times Amazon has accused it of using the U.S. Postal Service to deliver packages to customers, claiming the company is causing the post office’s budget problems.
Hostility goes both ways. 2019, Amazon accuse Trump launched a “behind-the-scenes attack” on the company over the loss of a multibillion-dollar Department of Defense contract (then known as JEDI). Before the 2016 election, Bezos criticized Trump’s actions, saying they “eroded our democracy.” After the then-Republican candidate accused Bezos of using The Washington Post as a “tax shelter,” Bezos, who also owns the Blue Origin space company, offered to use one of his rockets to send Trump to Trump sent into space.
Blue Origin competes with Musk’s SpaceX for government contracts.
At last week’s New York Times DealBook Summit, Bezos Optimistic about the president-elect trump cardsaid he expected a friendlier regulatory environment from the next administration.
“I’m actually very optimistic this time,” Bezos Speaking on stage. “He seems to have a lot of energy dedicated to reducing regulation. If I can help do that, I’ll help him.”
Trump calls Bezos “Jeff Bozo.” His favorite nickname for Meta’s CEO was “Zuckerschmuck.”
Trump files suit after he loses 2020 election Facebook, twitter and Googleas well as a class action lawsuit against their respective CEOs. All three companies removed Trump’s account from their platforms after the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.
Trump has long accused Facebook of silencing conservative voices. In March, he called In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the platform “is the enemy of the people and a lot of the media.”
Now that Trump is back in the White House and has been working with Musk, Other companies in the tech industry seem keen to please. apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and all others public congratulations After Trump won in November.
Microsoft declined to comment on whether it would contribute to the inauguration. Representatives for Apple and Google did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
For OpenAI and Altman, the concerns are somewhat different. Altman and Musk are co-founders of OpenAI, which began as a nonprofit. The two have since publicly parted ways, with Altman continuing to serve as CEO of OpenAI while Musk founded an artificial intelligence startup called Rivals xAI.
March, Musk sued OpenAI and co-founders Altman and Brockman allege breach of contract and fiduciary duties. He claims the project has been transformed into a for-profit entity controlled primarily by majority shareholder Microsoft and is suing to block the structural changes.
Open artificial intelligence clap back Friday, claimed a blog post Titled “Musk Wants a For-Profit OpenAI,” in 2017, Musk “not only wanted, but actually created a for-profit outfit” as the company’s proposed new structure.
Altman is about to worry that Musk spent more than US$250 million Helped drive Trump’s campaign and is now poised to help lead the Department of Government Effectiveness. In this role, Musk could influence how artificial intelligence is regulated in a way that would benefit his business.
Last week, Trump declare Venture capitalist and podcaster David Sacks (a friend of Musk’s) will join in The Trump administration has been called the “White House Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency Czar.”
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