Trump names Zuckerberg, Huang, Ellison to tech council—but no Musk, no Altman

President Trump has established the latest iteration of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a long-standing White House advisory body. This new council is tasked with guiding U.S. policy on critical technologies like artificial intelligence. Its membership signals a strategic pivot, drawing in the CEOs of three foundational tech giants: Meta's Mark Zuckerberg (social media and AI infrastructure), Nvidia's Jensen Huang (semiconductors and AI hardware), and Oracle's Larry Ellison (enterprise cloud and databases). The council's stated goal is to provide recommendations on strengthening American leadership in science and ensuring the workforce thrives during technological change.

However, the exclusions are as telling as the inclusions. The council notably lacks representation from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company is at the forefront of generative AI development, and from any executives at Microsoft, OpenAI's primary investor and a major AI player. Most conspicuously absent is Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, who previously led the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. This selective composition suggests a focus on established infrastructure and enterprise technology leaders over the most prominent figures in the current generative AI boom, potentially shaping the administration's regulatory and strategic priorities away from certain industry factions.