Big Tech trying to improve their standing with Donald Trump

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son smiles with President-elect Donald Trump during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla.

 In a string of visits, dinners, calls, monetary pledges and social media overtures, big tech chiefs — including Apple's Tim Cook , Meta's Mark Zuckerberg , SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and Amazon's Jeff Bezos — have joined a parade of business and world leaders in trying to improve their standing with President-elect Donald Trump before he takes office in January.

"The first term, everybody was fighting me," Trump said in remarks at Mar-a-Lago . "In this term, everybody wants to be my friend."

Tech companies and leaders have now poured millions into his inauguration fund, a sharp increase from past pledges to incoming presidents.

But what does the tech industry expect to gain out of their renewed relationships with Trump?

A clue to what the industry is looking for came just days before the election when Microsoft executives — who've largely tried to show a neutral or bipartisan stance — joined with a close Trump ally, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, to publish a blog post outlining their approach to artificial intelligence policy.

Trump has pledged to rescind President Joe Biden's sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people's rights and safety without stifling innovation.

Trump's choice to head the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, has spoken openly about the need to boost electricity production to meet increased demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

"Maybe Big Tech should buy a copy of 'The Art of The Deal' to figure out how to best negotiate with this administration," suggested Paul Swanson, an...