Big Names Descend on White House for Trump's Technology Summit

American president Donald Trump promised “sweeping transformation“ in the federal government’s use of technology as he welcomed top executives from many of the world’s largest tech companies to the White House, according to Bloomberg.

The meeting Monday brought leaders of an industry whose key figures have at times openly clashed with Trump. A who’s-who of technology names were in attendance, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Oracle Co-CEO Safra Catz, Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and IBM CEO Ginni Rometty.

But none of the executives criticized the president in public sessions, and Trump projected a jovial mood, touting the gains in technology stocks since he took office and expressing confidence his administration would overcome such long-running challenges as modernizing the air traffic system. He also offered a bit of solace for tech executives on concerns his immigration policies would deny the industry talent, saying he was working “very diligently“ with Congress on immigration so “you can get the people you want.“

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has castigated Trump for his travel ban and the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate treaty, responded with praise for Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is leading the administration’s technology sector outreach. “The U.S. should have the most modern government in the world and today it doesn’t.,“ Cook said. “It’s great to see the effort that Jared is putting in in working on things that will pay back in five and 10 and 20 years.“

The meeting Monday of the American Technology Council, which Trump commissioned in May and which is being shepherded by Kushner, kicks off a week of administration events themed on technology. The agenda featured working sessions on issues including cybersecurity, big data, fraud detection, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, according to a White House document outlining the program.

Much of the agenda for Monday’s meeting involves seeking ways for the Trump administration to adopt best practices from the private sector, including finding opportunities to recruit talented individuals to join the government. The officials also planned to discuss the H-1B visa program, which Trump has pledged to scale back despite the objections from Silicon Valley. The meeting was also notable for who didn’t attend. Tesla CEO Elon Musk left two of Trump’s advisory councils earlier this month after the president announced that he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement.