Two of the most powerful leaders in technology and politics got together in the nation's capital earlier this week, as Apple chief Tim Cook met with incoming Senate President pro tempore Orrin Hatch -- a major Silicon Valley supporter --Â on Tuesday.
Though the topic of the meeting remains unclear, Hatch is the chairman of the GOP's High Tech Task Force, which is responsible for articulating and advocating the party's technology agenda. Tuesday's pow-wow was first noted by The Hill.
Hatch has gone on record as saying that he would like to see the next Congress address a number of critical issues, including nuisance lawsuits from so-called "patent trolls." Apple is an increasingly large target for patent trolls due to its now-immense size, and is often fending off multiple such lawsuits simultaneously.
Hatch is also on Silicon Valley's side when it comes to the issue of immigration --Â another hot-button issue in the bay area --Â but does not support other important causes like net neutrality or reform in the NSA.
"The last thing we need, in my opinion, is the government telling ISPs how to carve up bandwidth," Hatch told journalist Steven Levy when asked about net neutrality.
On the subject of the NSA, Hatch toed the party line: "People who want to lessen those powers are really doing this country a great disservice because we are going have more terrorism acts," he said in the same interview.
It is unknown whether Cook took any additional meetings with political leaders, but he did visit Apple employees in the region, making a surprise appearance at the company's retail store in Georgetown.