The White House will be hosting a variety of technology executives to discuss “bold, transformational ideas” that “can help ensure U.S. leadership in industries of the future.”
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), executives scheduled to attend the roundtable discussion include Microsoft’s Chief Executive Satya Nadella, Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, Oracle’s Co-CEO Safra Catz and Qualcomm’s Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf, among others. The topics expected to be covered include emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G wireless communications and quantum computing, according to an email from Michael Kratsios, White House technology policy adviser.
One day earlier, Google’s Pichai is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee to address concerns over the company’s data privacy, the potential for political bias and its exploration of a censored search engine in China.
The roundtable comes after months of tech companies being criticized by President Donald Trump.
“Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it rigged, for me and others, so that almost all stories and news is bad,” the president tweeted in August. “Google and others are suppressing voices of conservatives, and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can and cannot see.”
The criticism goes both ways. From tariffs to immigration, tech CEOs have expressed their opposition for many of Trump’s policies. Last year, a group of 130 tech companies — including Microsoft, Apple and Google — joined legal action opposing Trump’s immigration ban.
Yet, this isn’t the first time tech giants have made their way to Washington D.C. since Trump was elected. Just last year, leaders of 18 U.S. technology firms — including Apple, Amazon and Google — met with the president to discuss how they can all work together to make sure the government’s computing systems are more efficient.
“Our goal is to lead a sweeping transformation of the federal government’s technology that will deliver dramatically better services for citizens,” Trump said. “Government needs to catch up with the technology revolution.”
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