NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs 鈥� including Apple's , OpenAI鈥檚 , Meta鈥檚 , SoftBank's and Amazon鈥檚 鈥� have joined a parade of business and world leaders in trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January.
鈥淭he first term, everybody was fighting me,鈥� Trump said in . 鈥淚n this term, everybody wants to be my friend.鈥�
Tech companies and leaders have millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase 鈥� in most cases 鈥� from past pledges to incoming presidents. But what does the tech industry expect to gain out of their renewed relationships with Trump?
During an interview Tuesday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said the incoming Trump administration seems more interested in hearing about issues that are important to the industry than the Biden administration.
鈥淧ut all the politics aside, everybody wants to reboot some things," said Benioff, who stressed he strives to stay nonpartisan because he also owns Time magazine. 鈥漌e are just at a very exciting moment, it鈥檚 a new chapter for America. I think we should all have our best intentions going forward. I think a lot of people realize there is a lot of incredible people like Elon Musk in the tech industry and in the business community. If you tap the power and expertise of the best in America to make the best of America, that鈥檚 a great vision."
Clearing the way for AI development
A clue to what the industry is looking for came just days before the election when Microsoft executives 鈥� who鈥檝e largely tried to show a neutral or bipartisan stance 鈥� joined with a close Trump ally, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, to outlining their approach to artificial intelligence policy.
鈥淩egulation should be implemented only if its benefits outweigh its costs,鈥� said the document signed by Andreessen, his business partner Ben Horowitz, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and the company's president, Brad Smith.
They also urged the government to back off on any attempt to strengthen copyright laws that would make it harder for companies to use publicly available data to train their AI systems. And they said, 鈥渢he government should examine its procurement practices to enable more startups to sell technology to the government.鈥�
Trump has pledged to rescind President Joe Biden鈥檚 sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people鈥檚 rights and safety without stifling innovation. He hasn鈥檛 specified what he would do in its place, but his campaign said AI development should be 鈥渞ooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.鈥�
Easier energy for data centers
Trump's choice to head the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has spoken openly about the need to boost electricity production to meet increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.
鈥淭he AI battle affects everything from defense to healthcare to education to productivity as a country,鈥� Burgum said on Nov. 15, referring to artificial intelligence. 鈥淎nd the AI that鈥檚 coming in the next 18 months is going to be revolutionary. So there鈥檚 just a sense of urgency and a sense of understanding in the Trump administration鈥� to address it.
Demand for data centers due to the rapid growth of cloud computing and AI, and local governments are competing for lucrative deals with big tech companies.
But as data centers begin to consume more resources, some residents are pushing back against the world鈥檚 most powerful corporations over concerns about the economic, social and environmental health of their communities.
Changing the antitrust discussion
鈥淢aybe Big Tech should buy a copy of 鈥楾he Art of The Deal鈥� to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration,鈥� suggested Paul Swanson, an antitrust attorney for the law firm Holland & Hart. 鈥淚 won鈥檛 be surprised if they find ways to reach some accommodations and we end up seeing more negotiated resolutions and consent decrees.鈥�
Although federal regulators began cracking down on Google and Facebook during Trump鈥檚 first term as president 鈥� and flourished under Biden 鈥� most experts expect his second administration to and be more receptive to business mergers.
Google may benefit from Trump鈥檚 return after he made comments on the campaign trail suggesting isn鈥檛 in the U.S. national interest, after a judge declared its search engine . But recent nominations put forward by his transition team have favored those who have been critical of Big Tech companies, suggesting Google won鈥檛 be entirely off the hook.
Fending off the EU
Cook鈥檚 notoriously rocky relationship with the EU can be traced back to a 2016 ruling from Brussels in a tax case targeting Apple. Cook slammed the bloc鈥檚 order for Apple to pay back up to 13 billion euros ($13.7 billion) in Irish back taxes as 鈥渢otal political crap.鈥�
Trump, then in his first term as president, piled on, referring to the European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who was spearheading a campaign on special tax deals and a crackdown on Big Tech companies, as someone who 鈥渞eally hates the U.S.鈥�
Brussels was after the bloc鈥檚 top court rejected Apple鈥檚 appeal this year, though it didn鈥檛 stop Cook from calling Trump to complain, Trump in October.
Making amends?
, Amazon and Meta all pledged to donate $1 million each to Trump鈥檚 inaugural fund.
Salesforce's Benioff said Tuesday that he won't be donating money to the inauguration because of his ties to Time, as its 鈥淧erson of The Year鈥� 鈥� a decision that landed picture of the president elect on the magazine's cover. 鈥淚 think we just donated that photo,鈥� Benioff said as he chuckled. 鈥淗e can use the Time magazine cover for free.鈥�
During his first term, Trump criticized Amazon and railed against the political coverage at The Washington Post, which billionaire Bezos owns. Meanwhile, Bezos had criticized some of Trump鈥檚 past rhetoric. In 2019, Amazon also argued in a court case that Trump鈥檚 bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract.
More recently, Bezos has struck a more conciliatory tone. He recently said at The New York Times鈥� DealBook Summit in New York that he was 鈥渙ptimistic鈥� about Trump鈥檚 second term, while also endorsing president-elect鈥檚 plans to cut regulations.
The donation from Meta came just weeks after privately at Mar-a-Lago.
During the 2024 campaign, Zuckerberg did not endorse a candidate for president, but voiced a more positive stance toward Trump. Earlier this year, he praised Trump鈥檚 response to his first assassination attempt. Still, Trump in recent months had continued to attack Zuckerberg publicly.
And Altman, who is in a legal dispute with AI rival Elon Musk, has said he is about the Tesla CEO鈥檚 influence in the incoming administration. Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the company earlier this year alleging that the maker of ChatGPT betrayed its founding aims of benefiting the public good rather than pursuing profits.
What about Elon Musk?
鈥淲e have two multi-billionaires, Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are tasked with cutting what they鈥檙e saying will be multiple trillions of dollars from the federal budget, reducing the civil service, the workforce,鈥� said Rob Lalka, a business professor at Tulane University.
Musk, he said, has a level of access to the White House that very few others have had -- access that allows him to multiple policy areas, including foreign policy, automotive and energy policy through EVs, and tech policy on artificial intelligence.
鈥淓lon Musk walked into Twitter鈥檚 headquarters with a sink and then posted, 鈥榣et that sink in,鈥樷�� he said. 鈥淓lon Musk then posted a status update on X, a picture of himself with a sink in the Oval Office and said, 'Let that sink in.鈥�"
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Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan, Michael Liedtke, Matt O'Brien, Barbara Ortutay and Sarah Parvini contributed to this report.
The Associated Press
