The Hill and Valley Forum, a closely watched gathering of tech industry leaders and US policymakers, will focus its next summit in Washington on preserving the American lead in artificial intelligence and expanding advanced manufacturing, according to the organizers.
Now in its fifth year, the event has become illustrative of growing bond between Silicon Valley and the US government since President Donald Trump’s return to office. The goal is to bring together tech executives and US officials for an open conversation, irrespective of political party, according to Christian Garrett, a partner at 137 Ventures and one of the forum’s founders.
“This is nonpartisan, everyone believes in the importance of making sure that the US has technological, industrial and economic leadership and that is important for national security and that is how we create opportunity,” Garrett said Thursday in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Confirmed speakers at the March 24 event include Qualcomm Inc. Chief Executive Officer Cristiano Amon, OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap and Young Liu, chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn. Venture capitalists like Trae Stephens, from Anduril Industries Inc. and Founders Fund and Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures are also confirmed to speak.
Ties between the nation’s capital and the Silicon Valley are far closer than when the conference started during President Joe Biden’s tenure, especially as the AI investment boom aligns with the Trump economic agenda. The forum was founded by Garrett and Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Founders Fund, alongside Jacob Helberg — who’s now in the Trump administration as under secretary of state for economic affairs.
Over the past year, the Trump administration has placed greater trust in the tech sector and granted its leaders unprecedented access to the machinery of government. Venture capitalists including David Sacks of Craft Ventures have taken government roles helping to oversee AI and crypto policy, while CEOs including Nvidia Corp.’s Jensen Huang, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman of OpenAI have become regular visitors to the White House.
Even so, the organizers emphasized that they would like to see the tech industry retain its seat at the table in Washington, no matter which political party holds power.
“We want to make sure that, irrespective of who is president, it is a place where we can maintain those ties, no matter who is in office,” Asparouhov said in the Bloomberg Television interview.
Garrett said they’re looking to host tech leaders from other countries that are allied with the US.
“The same trend is happening abroad where you are seeing governments partnering with their technological sector,” he said. “Industrial and technological ownership though companies will play a big role in how the US and allies work together.”
With assistance from Caroline Hyde.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
