Official announcements from the White House or OpenAI

Zuckerberg, Bezos, Altman Each Donate $1 Million to Trump's Inauguration Fund

Dec 13, 2024, 04:57 PM

Tech industry leaders are donating $1 million each to President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural fund in a bid to forge closer ties with the incoming administration. Meta Platforms Inc., led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, announced it has donated $1 million to support Trump's inauguration. Amazon.com Inc., headed by Jeff Bezos, also pledged $1 million and plans to stream the inauguration live on its Prime Video platform. Additionally, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and AI search startup Perplexity AI have each contributed $1 million to the fund. These gestures come as tech companies, which have previously had strained relationships with Trump, seek to build better relations with the new administration. Bezos, who was a target of Trump's criticism during his first term, is expected to meet with the president-elect in the coming days, following Zuckerberg's private meeting with Trump in November at Mar-a-Lago. The AI sector, in particular, appears keen to firm up relationships with the incoming administration.