(KRON) — The biggest tech leaders of Silicon Valley got a front-row seat at President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday. There has been a sudden support this administration has gained from the tech industry.
The emerging relationship between tech leaders and President Trump was on full display at the inauguration. These Bay Area CEOs got to sit right behind Trump’s family — in front of Trump’s cabinet nominees.
From left, Priscilla Chan, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk attend the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool Photo via AP)
Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk, arrive before the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
Tech and political experts tell me this may foreshadow their potential hand in his administration.
“If you like Game of Thrones, what you saw was the bending of the knee to Donald Trump,” said political analyst Michael Yaki.
Front and center at the inauguration of President Trump were tech moguls from Silicon Valley.
“You have the 10 richest people on the planet sitting in one place,” San Jose State engineering professor Ahmed Banafa said.
In the second row next to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Each of these tech billionaires donated $1 million to the Trump inaugural fund as they aim to win favor over Trump.
Political analyst Michael Yaki says this is unprecedented. Yaki has attended several inaugurations and says he was surprised.
“Seeing the tech execs up there with the cabinet and ex-presidents,” Yaki said. “That’s never been done before, never been seen before, and I’m sure it was not unnoticed by everyone in the room.”
Banafa says this group of big tech billionaires would have been unlikely in Trump’s previous term.
“The relationship was actually not good,” Banafa said. “There was a lot of back and forth, Silicon Valley stayed away from politics. Now it’s really in the middle. They understand that regulations are very important to keep technology rolling, especially for AI.”
Banafa says a lot of this has to do with the influence of Musk — who has become a close ally of Trump and the new chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“Elon Musk spoke the tech language to the CEOs and they understood it,” Banafa said. “That’s why there’s a famous picture of all of them sitting in the same row.”
“This is all about people like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg saying don’t regulate us. Just let us do our thing. Don’t make us fact-check or determine if someone is a real person or not just let us make money,” Yaki said.
Also in attendance was the CEO of TikTok. The app came back online over the weekend after Trump extended a federal ban. He has proposed the U.S. have a 50 percent stake in the company.
“TikTok is worthless if I don’t approve it,” Trump said. “If I do approve the deal its worth maybe a trillion dollars. A trillion! If I do a deal for the United States I think we should get half.”
Banafa says American users generate a majority of the app’s profits, but it all comes down to TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance and the Chinese government.
“Because the Chinese government has rules that you cannot sell algorithms like TikTok without their permission. ByteDance did the same thing: they don’t want to sell it. I’ll give you some numbers here,” Banafa said. “In 2024, TikTok made a total of $18 billion and 11 from the U.S. alone.”
The CEO of Open A.I. Sam Altman was also spotted at the inauguration. Banafa tells KRON4 companies like that will be working to ensure Trump doesn’t push any harsh regulations on them.
