US President Donald Trump is set to honour billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk with one of America’s highest awards for scientific achievement at a White House ceremony on Thursday.
Musk will receive the National Medal of Science alongside several other prominent figures in the technology industry during a summit titled “Science: A New Golden Age.”
Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su are also among those scheduled to receive the science award.
Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and technology entrepreneur Michael Dell will be honoured with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest US award in that category.
“The Trump Administration is grateful for the contributions of these incredible leaders in science and technology. These recipients are helping ensure America keeps leading the world in innovation,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said.
The ceremony marks another public display of the relationship between Trump and Musk after the two influential figures experienced a major fallout last year.
Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, had been closely involved with the Trump administration through his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative focused on reducing government spending.
Their relationship later deteriorated publicly, but Musk has since returned to Trump’s circle.
The billionaire was also the largest individual donor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Musk and Huang attended Trump’s state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, alongside other major figures from the technology industry.
Several technology executives also met with Trump at the White House last week, where industry leaders pledged to take steps towards regulating themselves amid growing concerns about the potential risks associated with artificial intelligence.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed warnings that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity.
Instead, the president has promoted AI as an important part of his vision for what he calls a “Golden Age” for the US economy during his second term.
The awards ceremony comes at a politically challenging time for Trump and the Republican Party.
Republicans could lose their control of Congress in next month’s midterm elections, with concerns over the war with Iran and the rising cost of living among issues weighing on voters.
Source: AFP
