While Silicon Valley CEOs Watched Movies, Democracy Bled

On Saturday afternoon, Alex Pretti was shot dead by federal agents in Minneapolis. Hours later, Tim Cook and Andy Jassy were watching a movie at the White House.

The film was "Melania," a documentary about the first lady. Alongside other business executives and prominent Trump supporters, they munched on popcorn and sugar cookies frosted with Melania's name. While an American citizen lay dead in the street for recording federal officers with his phone, Silicon Valley's elite were enjoying a cozy movie night with the president.

The Great Silicon Valley Genuflection

For the past year, Big Tech's courtship of Trump has been shameless. At his inauguration, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, Elon Musk, and Cook sat smiling behind the president in the Capitol Rotunda. In August, Cook presented Trump with a custom plaque atop a 24-karat-gold base in the Oval Office.

At a September White House dinner, Google co-founder Sergey Brin praised Trump's "civil rights" work, while OpenAI'sSam Altman described Trump's leadership as a "refreshing change." Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Google have all contributed to funding the new White House ballroom.

Tech has always played politics, of course. But this time feels different. Even as Trump's administration has shattered constitutional and democratic norms, these leaders haven't distanced themselves. They've doubled down.

The Rank and File Rebellion

The Minneapolis shooting exposed a growing gulf between Silicon Valley's C-suites and their employees. Hundreds of workers from Apple, Amazon, OpenAI, and other major companies signed a statement demanding their CEOs call the White House and publicly condemn the violence.

Google's chief scientist Jeff Dean posted on X: "Every person regardless of political affiliation should be denouncing this." Investor Vinod Khosla called the video "sickening to watch" and criticized the administration's "storytelling without facts."

Anthropic'sDario Amodei, one of the few major CEOs to condemn the shooting, warned against the "reluctance of tech companies to criticize the US government."

Altman reportedly told OpenAI employees that "what's happening with ICE is going too far," but still called Trump "a very strong leader" who he hopes "will rise to this moment and unite the country."

Doubling Down

As midterm elections approach, some executives are actually increasing their support. This fall, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and his wife Anna donated $25 million to Trump's super PAC. Musk recently gave $10 million to the pro-Trump candidate running to succeed Mitch McConnell—his largest-ever single contribution to a Senate candidate.

The irony is striking. In 2017, Brin protested Trump's Muslim ban. Altman spoke with 100 Trump voters to figure out how to "convince them not to vote for him in the future." Brockman previously donated to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign.

Their political views may have genuinely changed, but the groveling reads as pure strategy. Trump is a dealmaker, and playing to his administration pays. Tech companies have already gained relaxed AI regulation and tariff exemptions by cozying up to him.

The Faustian Bargain

This transactional approach carries enormous risks. As venture capitalist Michael Moritz warned in 2024: "The Trump supporters in Silicon Valley are making the same mistake as all powerful people who back authoritarians. They are, I suspect, seduced by the notion that because of their means, they will be able to control Trump."

But Trump is mercurial. He does as he pleases. The tech titans schmoozing with him today could easily become his targets tomorrow. There are no guarantees in this game—only the certainty that their silence has consequences.

When the history of this moment is written, it won't remember the regulatory benefits or tariff exemptions. It will remember the movie night while democracy bled.