CEOs in Silicon Valley receive a Biden and Modi investment pitch.

On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden went to the White House to meet with some of the most powerful executives in Silicon Valley. The two leaders wanted to improve economic cooperation on artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc., Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., attended the meeting in the East Room of the White House. As part of a move away from manufacturing iPhones in China, Cook is assembling more iPhones on the subcontinent. Cook was in the meeting with Modi next to him.

In light of Covid-19-related supply chain disruptions, theft of intellectual property, and concerns that Beijing may push forward with efforts to reunify with Taiwan, the Biden administration is increasingly courting India as a crucial counterweight to China. Modi announced this week that he was working to remove regulatory constraints, particularly for tech companies, in an effort to make it easier for US companies to invest in India. India is also eager to become a key partner on critical technologies.

Biden stated, "Our countries are taking innovation and cooperation to a new level." The people at this table are largely to be thanked.

He urged the executives to take an active role in enhancing economic ties between the two countries, such as communicating with other business leaders and notifying the administration of regulatory obstacles.

He stated, "We need your help, and I'm talking to CEOs here, Indian and American, to seize the moment and help manage the risks to our societies, economies, and national security." You raise our goals, and I want you to let us know what stands in the way of our goals because collaboration and innovation are rarely free of obstacles.

During a state dinner for India on Thursday, the president and prime minister struck a number of business deals, including plans for Micron Technology Inc. to invest more than $800 million in India for a $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and testing facility. A new semiconductor commercialization and innovation center was announced by Applied Materials Inc., and chip manufacturer Lam Research is announcing a training program in India for up to 60,000 engineers.

The chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Lisa Su, and Flex Ltd.'s Revathi Advaithi, a multinational manufacturing powerhouse, were among the other attendees of the meeting.

The Biden administration is working on regulatory safeguards for the upcoming technology, so the discussion on Friday also touched on emerging concerns regarding its use.

Following the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT, generative AI tools have come under increased scrutiny due to their widespread use in recent months. Microsoft has integrated simulated intelligence innovation into its Bing search item, and Google delivered its opponent Minstrel chatbot in Spring. Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI, was one of the attendees at the meeting.

According to Biden's statement, "We need your help to build guardrails around emerging technologies so they are trustworthy, secure, and uphold our shared values and human rights."

As the Commerce Department conducts a longer regulatory review that may require AI models to undergo a certification process prior to release, the White House has stated that it expects leading artificial intelligence firms to implement their own security and bias safeguards in the near future.

The use of artificial intelligence tools is also being monitored by the Federal Trade Commission, and the White House has supported efforts to introduce legislation directly governing the industry on Capitol Hill.

Sunita Williams, a NASA astronaut, was one of the attendees, so it was anticipated that the discussion on Friday would also touch on efforts by the United States and India to better align their space programs.

India's plans to sign the Artemis Accords, which govern joint missions and civilian space exploration but not Russia or China, were made public by Modi on Thursday. The Indian Space Research Organization and NASA have also agreed to go to the International Space Station together next year.

On Tuesday, Modi went to New York to meet with Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX.