At a worshipful State Dining Room, Big Tech courted policy access,celebrated a lighter regulatory touch, and flashed trillion-dollar ambitions.Elon Musk stayed away and stayed salty.A New Courtship Ritual at DinnerThursday night’s White House dinner delivered a simple message fromSilicon Valley to Washington: we can play nice when it pays. Cameras rolled astop tech figures, from those specializing in social media, artificialintelligence (AI) and more, took turns thanking the president and talking upAmerican investment, an optics-perfect scene in which power met money and bothsmiled for the record. The performance element was the point, and everyone hittheir mark.Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoftfounder Bill Gates, OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai andMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella, were among the attendees.WATCH LIVE: President Trump hosts top tech CEOs at White House dinner https://t.co/5DZXKjDAJH— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 4, 2025The $600 Billion FlexMark Zuckerberg sat to the president’s right and talked about “hugeinvestments,” while name-checking Meta’s plan to spend at least $600billion through 2028 on U.S. data centers and infrastructure. If regulatoryvibes stay friendly, that hyperscale budget becomes a moat. It also becomesleverage in every conversation about energy, zoning, and tax incentives thattouch those builds.Altman’s Trump Applause Line, Gates’ GratitudeOpenAI’s Sam Altman thanked Trump for being a “pro-business,pro-innovation president,” saying, "It's a very refreshing change. ... Ithink it's going to set us up for a long period of leading the world, and thatwouldn't be happening without your leadership." Bill Gates offered publicappreciation too, a genteel nod that doubles as a signal to agencies andappropriators who will shape AI’s future. The room’s mood said the quiet partout loud: charm the policymaker, de-risk the roadmap.Policy Small Talk with Very Large ConsequencesThe choreography may be ceremonial, but the agenda is not. There’s aneed to address the raw power, and legislation, needed to power the next waveof giant data centers, as well as the bureaucratic snags that slow gridhookups. Those nuts-and-bolts fixes are worth far more to these companies thanany single handshake photo.Proud to be at the White House today attending the AI Education Task Force meeting led by @FLOTUS. @AMD is proud to expand our commitment to AI Education through new AI Learning Labs and open source courses that will give students, educators and researchers hands-on experience… pic.twitter.com/qbpMEQRj0n— Lisa Su (@LisaSu) September 4, 2025Techwants a light regulatory touch on AI. That pitch landed alongside thereality that the current FTC chair, Andrew Ferguson, is a vocal Big Techcritic. Translation for the dinner crowd: play nice in public, push hard inprivate, and hope the referees swallow the whistle. Musk, Invited, Still UnamusedI was invited, but unfortunately could not attend. A representative of mine will be there.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 4, 2025One billionaire did not attend the ball. Elon Musk said on X he wasinvited, could not attend, and sent no vibes beyond the familiar posture ofwounded detachment. Given his recent season as an insider, the absence is loud.The rest of the class showed up, smiled, and banked IOUs. Musk stayed outside,where the applause is thinner and the leverage is smaller. The Soft Power MathFor the CEOs, this is not about likes, it is about permissions andplumbing. Licenses, interconnects, tax treatment, export allowances, spectrum,visas, grid hookups, even the right to pour concrete on a tight timeline.Public praise is the cheap down payment. The return shows up in a permittingoffice, an appropriations subcommittee, or a tariff footnote that quietlyshapes who scales and who stalls. Though, not everyone among Trump's base will be pleased...Gates and Zuckerbucks Oh hell no - President Trump hosts top tech CEOs at White House dinner. pic.twitter.com/n38sfvLLhp— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) September 4, 2025Washington likes a narrative about jobs and national strength. Big Techcan supply both, at least on paper, with eye-watering capex and patrioticribbon cuttings. In exchange it prefers clarity over crusades. Fewer surpriserules, faster project approvals, friendlier interpretations from people whoanswer the phone. Call it regulatory mood music. Get the key in the right,predictable, business-friendly key and the orchestra will play louder.The real action is always off camera. The dessert course becomes asidebar on energy capacity needs, chip supply chains, or the wording of an AIsafety memo. A single adjective in a federal guideline can move billions. Thatis why everyone shows up polished and patient. Charm first, specifics later,outcomes months from now. If the trade is flattery for facilitation, SiliconValley is already doing the math and the answer keeps coming back the same:access compounds.For more stories at the intersection of fintech, AI and more, followour Trending section.This article was written by Louis Parks at www.financemagnates.com.