OpenAI’s Altman Donates $1m To Trump Inauguration

Matthew Broersma,
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OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman at the OpenAI Hackathon in March 2018. Image credit: OpenAI

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman to done $1m to Trump’s second inauguration as tech firms seek better relations with incoming administration

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OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is to make a $1 million (£790m) personal donation to the inauguration fund of US president-elect Donald Trump, joining other technology companies and executives who are seeking to establish better relationships with the incoming administration.

The news comes shortly after Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said last week it had donated $1m to the fund. Amazon also plans to donate the same amount.

“President Trump will lead our country into the age of AI, and I am eager to support his efforts to ensure America stays ahead,” said Altman in a statement.

Altman is in a legal dispute with entrepreneur Elon Musk, one of OpenAI’s founders, who sued OpenAI earlier this year over allegations that it has moved away from its original mission to benefit humanity.

The White House. Image credit: US government. Trump
Image credit: US government

Government relations

Musk, along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, were appointed by Trump to lead a new unofficial Department of Government Efficiency initiative to advise government on cuts to spending and regulation.

Altman has said he is “not that worried” about Musk’s influence in the incoming administration.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has clashed with Trump in recent years, with Trump criticising reporting in Bezos-owned The Washington Post, but more recently Bezos has praised Trump on social media.

Trump has criticised Meta’s social media platforms for allegedly censoring conservative voices, but following Trump’s re-election Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg met with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Corporations and big tech firms have traditionally made up a large share of donors to presidential inaugurals, with an exception in 2009, when then-President-elect Barack Obama refused to accept corporate donations. Obama reversed course for his second inaugural in 2013.

Donations

Meta reportedly did not donate to either Biden’s 2021 inaugural or Trump’s 2017 inaugural.

Google donated $285,000 each to Trump’s first inaugural and Biden’s inaugural events, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Microsoft gave $1 million to Obama’s second inaugural, but lowered the amount to $500,000 for Trump in 2017 and Biden in 2021.