The political pilgrimage of tech CEOs to secure facetime with President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida continued as the CEO to TikTok visited the members-only club on Monday.
TikTok’s top exec is the latest in a string of business leaders getting busy to make the trek to the Sunshine state in advance of Trump’s inauguration as 47th President of the United States next month.
The batch of bosses have included CEOs from Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and OpenAI — to highlight some of the biggest names — and they’ve largely been mum as to what they’ve discussed with Trump.
Additionally, there have not been immediate responses to email requests from any of those companies for official comment regarding the nature of those respective meetings, topics covered or intended outcomes.
Despite the dearth of information coming from those meetups, here are some topics that were most likely discussed.
Likely Topical Areas For Trump And Tech CEOs
- Data Centers and AI: Each company has expressed public AI aspirations — which will require the expansion of existing data centers and construction of new ones. After decades of almost zero growth in electricity demand across US data centers, Barclays reported that AI will double current data center usage by 2030. And while Republicans and Democrats want to ensure the US keeps a leadership position within the AI space for the sake of the economy, national security, as well as future safety and governance of the tech — there isn’t agreement on how to power the future of AI. It’s likely someone planted that seed with Trump.
- Intellectual Property: US companies have moved manufacturing to China for decades due to lower labor, production and shipping costs. Recently more of those same manufacturers are rethinking those decisions based on patterns of IP theft and cybersecurity breaches by Chinese companies. It’s reported that as many as 1-in-5 US companies have experienced IP theft in some form at their properties in China. There’s a strong possibility that one of these leaders surfaced this issue as well during their respective talks.
- AI Regulatory and Legal Uncertainties: There are more than two dozen different AI-related lawsuits underway right now according to the Copyright Alliance. Additionally, virtually all federal and state legislation dealing with regulatory oversight of AI had been stalled leading up to this past November’s Presidential election. It’s reasonable to expect that some of these leaders may have floated “common sense” concepts for possible inclusion in forthcoming AI statutes and legislation.
- Threatened CHIPS Act Repeal: During Trump’s presidential campaign he threatened to repeal President Biden’s $53 billion CHIPS and Science Act — crafted to re-energize advanced semiconductor production here in the US. Currently 90% of advanced chips — such as those used for AI — are produced in Taiwan. There is a chance that China could invade Taiwan, which would virtually halt any US advantage in the AI tech race. US leaders may have chatted up the CHIPS Act as a hedge against such a scenario.
Trump’s Second Term Will Differ Greatly From The First In Terms of Tech
For the time being, the president-elect is enjoying a 50% approval rating — his highest since April 2017 — and he was recently named TIME Magazine’s 2024 Person of the Year.
Even though those numbers won’t last, Eleanor Lightbody, CEO of legal AI platform Luminance, says this term looks to be quite different for Trump than when he served eight years ago — especially from a tech perspective.
“President-elect Trump will lead during a pivotal time in AI’s evolution. His administration has the opportunity to drive innovation with a focus on deregulation and global competitiveness, but it will require careful navigation to ensure ethical safeguards aren’t sidelined,” she wrote in an email message.
“The influence of figures like Elon Musk and AI Czar David Sacks highlights the likely growing role private industry will play in shaping AI’s future. For countries looking to lead in AI, the next four years present an opportunity to set the tone for AI’s global trajectory—one that prioritizes progress, trust and ethical advancement,” concluded Lightbody.
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