Musk falls out of favor, Zuckerberg and Altman seize the opportunity to rise, ushering in a "honeymoon period" with Trump.
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The balance of power in Washington is tilting towards new tech giants.
According to a Financial Times report on September 25, as Elon Musk’s relationship with the Trump administration cools, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are quickly filling the power vacuum, launching a “honeymoon period” with the White House through positive gestures and cooperation. But behind this is a pragmatic deal based on business interests and political needs.
The latest signal came at a recent White House dinner, where Zuckerberg was seated to Trump’s right, while Altman sat opposite. According to Washington and company insiders, this carefully arranged seating reflected the progress the two tech leaders have made in building relations with the White House. In sharp contrast, Musk has not visited Washington since May of this year.
Zuckerberg and Altman have visited the White House about six times this year and have publicly praised the Trump administration. In return, they are seeking White House support to gain more business opportunities and reduce regulatory barriers in building their “AI empires.”
This interaction is already bearing fruit. Meta and OpenAI have not only received expedited approval for permits to build data centers, but were also listed as U.S. government-approved AI vendors. For investors, this means the two companies may gain advantages in securing government contracts and dealing with regulation, but the stability of this political alignment remains untested.
Exchange of AI Investment and Political Interests?
Several insiders describe the current situation as a “marriage of convenience.” An individual close to the current administration told the Financial Times, “If you take AI investment out of the economy, things could get very, very bad for us.” This alliance is essentially based on that.
Zuckerberg has committed to invest at least $600 billion in the U.S. by 2028. Meanwhile, both Meta and OpenAI have lifted restrictions on military uses of their AI technologies.
In return, Trump is happy to put these new allies in the spotlight. According to informed sources, a high-profile White House dinner this month was organized at short notice, with First Lady Melania Trump hosting an AI event. However, a White House official called this “fake news.”
Wallstreetcn wrote that at the beginning of this month, the CEOs of Apple, Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and other tech giants gathered at the White House to publicly support an AI education initiative spearheaded by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and pledged huge investments. At the time, Altman said Trump was “pro-business, pro-innovation.” Musk was not present at the event.
From Critics to Honored Guests
The transformation of the two CEOs is particularly noteworthy.
Altman once said in 2016 that Trump’s election “felt like the worst thing that ever happened to me”, but this year he has accompanied Trump on visits to Saudi Arabia and the UK, and together with Trump, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, announced the $500 billion “Stargate” data center project.
According to insiders, even before the election, OpenAI executives had already approached Trump, emphasizing that its “democratic AI” could help the United States.
Zuckerberg’s transformation is equally significant. One year ago, Trump threatened to jail Zuckerberg for life for interfering in the presidential election.
Now, Zuckerberg has not only adjusted Meta's content moderation policies to be more favorable to the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement—such as removing external fact-checking on the platform—but has also promoted the company's longtime Republican lobbyist Joel Kaplan to head of global affairs.
In return, after Zuckerberg complained about the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Trump posted criticisms of the EU’s digital taxes and regulations, and threatened to impose “high” tariffs on countries that implement digital taxes.
Concerns under the Honeymoon Period
Despite the ever-closer relationship, doubts and challenges persist. Many within the Trump administration still regard these two former Democratic Party donors with suspicion.
More importantly, this “close” relationship has not spared Meta from legal troubles. The company still faces antitrust lawsuits filed by the government, an FTC investigation, and scrutiny by Republican Senator Josh Hawley over its AI chatbot. Moreover, the entire AI industry has failed to push through a proposal to pause new AI regulations at the state level for ten years.
An individual close to the Trump administration commented bluntly: “I don’t think they have any particular ideology,” and predicted that if California Governor Gavin Newsom became the next president, these people would still cozy up to the new president. This highlights the fragility of the current alliance, which is based purely on business pragmatism, not firm political conviction.
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