Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, two of the leading names in the US technology world, are among those who met with former US President Donald Trump. According to The Information, Sundar Pichai met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday. Jeff Bezos is expected to meet with Trump next week.
Trump has had turbulent relations with Google and Amazon in the past, particularly accusing Google of having search results biased against him. However, recently, Trump has stated several times that Pichai called him on the phone. Speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit last week, Pichai stated that these talks had nothing to do with the government’s monopoly cases against Google.
According to The Information, Pichai did not make a direct request regarding the antitrust case or other regulatory issues in his meeting with Trump. Trump said in October that he would do something about Google and implied that the company should be split up. However, Google refused to comment on Pichai’s visit.
In other news, Trump confirmed in an interview with CNBC on Thursday that Jeff Bezos will meet with him next week. Despite Trump frequently clashing with Amazon during his presidency, Bezos reportedly took a more optimistic attitude this time. While Bezos did not comment on the details of the meeting, Amazon did not make a statement on the subject.
Mark Zuckerberg is also trying to make amends with Donald Trump
Apart from Pichai and Bezos, other technology leaders are also trying to resolve past tensions with Trump. For example, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Trump for dinner at Mar-a-Lago in November. Trump had previously threatened to imprison Zuckerberg. Additionally, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Meta donated $1 million for Trump’s inauguration.
These talks are considered as an effort to reshape the relations of technology leaders with Trump. However, it remains unclear for now what kind of effects these meetings will have in the future.