President Donald Trump named Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, among others, to a new AI advisory panel on Wednesday, as Trump has developed a close relationship with the tech industry during his second term.
Key Facts
- Trump appointed 13 members to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on Wednesday, among up to 24 total, according to multiple reports.
- Zuckerberg and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell confirmed their participation to The Wall Street Journal.
- Trump signed an executive order in January establishing the council, which will “advise the president on matters involving science, technology, education, and innovation policy,” according to the order.
- The group will reportedly be co-chaired by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and technology adviser Michael Kratsios.
Tangent
The Trump administration on Friday issued a new legislative framework it wants Congress to implement to establish a uniform national policy on artificial intelligence that would supersede state-specific rules. Among the goals the White House wants the legislation to achieve is “preventing AI systems from being used to silence or censor lawful political expression or dissent,” according to a document outlining the framework. Trump and his allies have repeatedly alleged social media companies have unfairly censored right-wing content. The theme is also alluded to in the executive order announcing Trump’s AI council, which states “the pursuit of truth . . . is increasingly under threat” by agendas that “have not only distorted truth but have eroded public trust.”
Key Background
The tech industry has forged a close relationship with Trump after he repeatedly warred with social media companies and was largely shunned by Silicon Valley during his first term. Zuckerberg, for example, has rebuilt his ties with Trump, who once called Facebook an “enemy of the people” and accused Facebook of unfairly censoring content to help Trump’s political foes. Zuckerberg has since met with Trump repeatedly, donated $1 million to his inaugural fund, hired a former Trump official as Meta’s president and has made a series of policy changes to align with Trump. Ellison, a fellow billionaire, is a longtime friend of Trump’s and has played a role in Trump’s war with CNN in helping Paramount, whose chairman and CEO is Ellison’s son, David Ellison, win a bid to acquire CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery by personally guaranteeing more than $40 billion in financing. Ellison’s Oracle is also part of the investor group for the TikTok U.S. joint venture as part of an agreement with the White House to allow the app to continue running in the U.S.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
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