Silicon Valley and the Trump administration alliance made a high-profile appearance in Washington, facing a dual test of public concerns and the application of AI leading positions in warfare.

The alliance between Silicon Valley and the Trump administration will make a high-profile appearance at a summit in Washington on Tuesday. At this summit, calls from business leaders to maintain America's leading position in the field of artificial intelligence will face a test of public concerns about the growing impact of the AI economy and its application in the Iran war. The one-day event, titled "Summit of Summits," will bring together dozens of senior executives, venture capitalists, and government officials. This year's heavyweight guests include Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Sham Sankar, Chief Technology Officer of Palantir Technologies, and Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI. The forum aims to showcase the technology industry's support for President Donald Trump, who has made accelerating AI applications a core part of his economic agenda. One of the forum's founders, Jacob Heilbrunn, a former consultant for Palantir who now serves as Deputy Secretary of State for Economic Affairs in the government, is leading efforts to secure the advanced technology materials needed for the United States. Since the founding of the forum shortly after the breakthrough of OpenAI's ChatGPT during the Biden administration in 2023, the call to maintain America's leading position in the field of AI has been a recurring theme. Heilbrunn and co-founders Christian Garrett of 137 Ventures and Darian Asparuhov of Founders Fund have been trying to find more common ground between Silicon Valley and Washington using the forum. Garrett said at a press briefing on Monday, "Establishing the forum is to have these discussions. Over the past few years, you have seen both sides of the relationship reestablish and deepen, and with our competition and national security considerations, this becomes crucial." Efforts by the Trump administration to maintain America's dominant position in AI have become complicated due to disputes between the Pentagon and leading domestic AI developer, Anthropic PBC, over AI security measures. This dispute may require federal agencies to turn to other AI suppliers, weakening Anthropic's business and setting a worrying precedent for government contractors. Asparuhov, discussing the tense relationship between Anthropic and the Pentagon, said, "The current conflict shows that platforms like 'Summit of Summits' have played a role. They may not always agree, but at least this is the first time in a long time they have started using the same language to communicate." Since the last forum, there have been significant changes in the broader AI landscape. Wall Street investors have shown skepticism about the sustainability of the AI boom and tech companies' infrastructure spending. Meanwhile, in the months leading up to the US midterm elections, more and more Americans are worried that AI will replace their jobs and force them to foot the bill for energy-hungry data centers. Against this backdrop, the Trump administration issued an AI legislative blueprint last week, calling for stronger child safety protections, federal regulations to take precedence over state regulations, and easing licensing requirements for data centers. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Trump's AI advisor, former Andreessen Horowitz partner Sri Kritchana, plan to speak on this and may outline the proposal. Trump has begun to realize the dangers of ignoring the impact of AI on utility bills and has announced measures to mitigate the burden on consumers. Top tech companies, including Microsoft Corporation and Alphabet Inc. Class C parent company Alphabet, represented by their CEOs, recently appeared at the White House to pledge to procure energy for AI data centers themselves. A new variable this year is the Iran war, where the US has already used AI for military operations, intensifying global debates about the role of this technology in warfare. Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, said, "Now, we are directly or indirectly involved in multiple conflicts, so defense technology, defense AI, was not clearly on the agenda last year." On the day of the forum, a court will hold a hearing on Anthropic's challenge to a directive from the Pentagon. The directive declared the company to pose a supply chain risk and excluded it from defense contracts after the company refused to add additional security measures when its AI tools were used for military purposes. The standoff between defense officials and Anthropic has sparked strong opposition from ordinary tech workers, who have sided with the AI startup, and the consumer subscription for the company's Claude application has seen a sharp increase. Kreps said that executives of Anthropic are not scheduled to speak on Tuesday, but the discussion will be closely watched to see how all parties comment on this dispute. Since taking office, tech leaders have actively engaged with the government, holding prominent positions at his inauguration. Since then, they have attended White House dinners and numerous private meetings. Silicon Valley leaders in the Trump team, including venture capitalist David Sacks, who serves as the White House's AI and cryptocurrency chief, have facilitated communication between the two sides. These efforts have brought tangible benefits to the industry, such as NVIDIA Corporation receiving US government approval to sell its H200 AI chip to Chinese customers, and government investigations into tech companies like Meta platform and PayPal gradually decreasing. Trump has also pressured trade partners, especially the EU, to cancel digital taxes and related regulations that US tech giants oppose. Kreps said, "Overall, this is a beneficial alliance for both parties. Both the industry and the government are motivated to find ways to make this relationship work effectively."