Biden and Indian Prime Minister Meet With Tech Executives

Technology was highlighted during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meetings at the White House.

Among those who met with Modi and President Joe Biden Friday (June 23) were Tim Cook of Apple, Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Anand Mahindra of Mahindra Group and Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Reuters reported Friday.

Biden said during the meeting that technological cooperation would be a big part of the partnership between the U.S. and India, according to the report.

“Our partnership between India and the United States will go a long way, in my view, to define what the 21st century looks like,” Biden said per the report.

Modi said Friday that in the nine years since he visited the U.S. in 2014, the two countries have expanded their cooperation in defense and strategic areas, according to a transcript released by the White House.

“We are working with renewed trust in areas of new and emerging technologies,” Modi said. “We are resolving long pending and difficult issues in trade.”

The tech executives were slated to discuss artificial intelligence (AI), manufacturing and innovation with Modi and Biden during the day, Seeking Alpha reported Friday before the meetings.

Altman, Nadella, Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei visited the White House in May to discuss AI with Vice President Kamala Harris and other senior officials.

That meeting focused on the need for companies to be transparent about their AI systems, the importance of being able to validate the safety, security and efficacy of the systems, and the need to keep the systems from malicious actors.

Biden “dropped by” the May 4 meeting to underscore the importance of ensuring AI products are safe and secure, according to a readout of the meeting released by the White House.

Tech leaders have met with leaders in Europe as well.

It was reported on June 9 that French President Emmanuel Macron has met with AI experts from Google and Meta to discuss his country’s role in AI regulation and research.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has also shown interest in influencing AI development, Bloomberg News reported on June 9.