President Trump honors US tech leaders — South China Morning Post
In the United States, President Donald Trump presented national science and technology awards to the heads of major technology companies. Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk became one of four recipients of the National Medal of Science, while Dell founder Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the South China Morning Post reports.
Entrepreneurs have received these honors before, but according to commentators, recognizing top technology executives on such a scale has been unusual. The U.S. Congress established the National Medal of Science in 1959, while the Medal of Technology and Innovation was introduced in 1980.
Recipients’ ties to the White House
Musk is considered a Trump ally despite their public dispute last year. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Dell are members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Technology companies associated with these recipients have also deepened commercial ties with the Pentagon to varying degrees.
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Chinese researcher Sun Zhanqing said that the composition of the recipients indicates the formation of a “new type of power relationship” in the United States. In his view, the role of technology entrepreneurs in resource allocation and in shaping technology plans and the scientific agenda is growing. At the same time, he warned that businesspeople’s influence on research should not be equated with scientists’ ability to create new knowledge.
Investment in AI and science
At the event, the Trump administration also announced more than $6 billion in investments in science and technology. Of that amount, $2.4 billion is to be provided by 11 companies, including Nvidia, AMD, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, for artificial intelligence tools and computing credits for researchers.
The initiatives are based on the report “Science: A New Golden Age,” presented in July by Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The document proposes supporting scientists prepared for high-risk research and expanding the Genesis Mission, launched to accelerate scientific discoveries with the help of AI. At the same time, the report was criticized over the possible redirection of substantial resources from traditional academic institutions to major technology companies.
