Tech Leaders Dine at the White House: Elon Musk’s Absence and the Details of the Gathering

A dinner event at the White House, hosted by former US President Donald Trump, brought together an array of influential figures from the global tech industry. The State Dining Room served as the venue for the gathering. The absence of Elon Musk, the head of X and SpaceX, stirred intrigue, leading to discussions regarding his non-attendance. There were uncertainties if Musk was not included on the guest list or if he opted to skip the event. The dinner was moved from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate due to weather concerns. In attendance was Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, a key player in the AI field and a competitor to Musk. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, announced plans to invest a substantial $600 billion in the U.S. over the next several years. Other attendees included Tim Cook from Apple, Satya Nadella and Bill Gates from Microsoft, Sergey Brin from Google, Greg Brockman from OpenAI, Safra Catz from Oracle, and key executives from Micron, TIBCO Software, Palantir, Scale AI, Blue Origin, and Shift4 Payments. Speculation surrounding Musk’s absence intensified, with Musk clarifying that he was invited but unable to attend, sending a representative instead. Conversely, a White House official indicated Musk wasn’t on the official list.