US President Donald Trump is set to present Elon Musk and several of the technology industry’s most prominent figures with the country’s highest scientific and technological honours at the White House on Thursday. Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su are due to receive the National Medal of Science, the highest US honour for scientists and engineers. Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the country’s top recognition for technological achievement. The awards will be presented during the “Science: A New Golden Age” summit, which is focused on the administration’s plans for strengthening American scientific research and technological innovation.
The White House said the recipients were being recognised for their contributions to science and technology and their role in maintaining US leadership in innovation. “The Trump Administration is grateful for the contributions of these incredible leaders in science and technology,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement. The ceremony comes as the Trump administration is promoting a broader overhaul of the US science and technology ecosystem, with artificial intelligence, advanced computing and private-sector research playing a prominent role. The summit takes its name from a July report by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios titled Science: A New Golden Age. The report calls for changes in how the federal government conducts, funds and evaluates scientific research and places emerging technologies at the centre of the administration’s strategy.
Musk’s inclusion is particularly notable because of his close relationship with Trump and their political alliance, which underwent a major breakdown last year. Musk had played a prominent role in Trump’s administration through his involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency, which was established to pursue government cost-cutting efforts. The two subsequently fell out publicly, but their relationship has since improved. Musk was also the biggest individual donor to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to the supplied report. More recently, Musk and Huang attended a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping. Their participation in the upcoming ceremony reflects the continuing prominence of major technology executives in the administration’s discussions about artificial intelligence, scientific research and US technological competitiveness.
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The awards also come shortly after Trump hosted technology executives at the White House for discussions on artificial intelligence and the potential risks associated with rapidly advancing AI systems. Technology leaders agreed to a voluntary framework involving outside assessments of the safety of advanced AI models, rather than relying primarily on new federal regulations. Trump has repeatedly argued that excessive regulation could undermine the United States’ ability to compete with China in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. His administration has increasingly promoted the idea of maintaining US technological leadership through investment, private-sector innovation and closer cooperation between government and industry. The White House has also adopted the term “super intelligence” in describing the next phase of AI development.
The “Science: A New Golden Age” summit is part of that broader effort. The White House’s July report described scientific and technological progress as central to US economic and national security interests and called for new approaches to research funding, scientific collaboration and technological development. The administration has argued that the United States needs to adapt its institutions to a period in which artificial intelligence could accelerate scientific discovery and allow researchers to conduct experiments and analyse information at a scale previously difficult to achieve. The White House has also highlighted the role of private-sector research and advanced computing in that effort. The summit is expected to bring together senior government officials, scientists, technology executives and other figures involved in research and innovation.
The awards come at a politically significant moment for Trump, with the US midterm elections approaching and debates over artificial intelligence, scientific funding, economic conditions and foreign policy shaping the political environment. The administration has presented technological innovation as part of its broader economic agenda, while critics have raised concerns about research funding policies and the potential impact of changes to federal science programmes. The White House has nevertheless continued to emphasise what Trump describes as a new “Golden Age” of American innovation. By honouring Musk, Brin, Huang and Su with the National Medal of Science and Dell and Nadella with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the administration is putting some of the most influential figures in the technology sector at the centre of that vision.
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