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Trump, Thiel invite Silicon Valley executives to round-table discussion in NYC

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President-Elect Donald Trump and his transition team have invited Silicon Valley tech industry leaders to a meeting in New York City on Dec. 14, and AppleInsider has learned that Apple is amongst the invitees, but may not attend.

According to USA Today, the invitation was sent by Trump's Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and co-signed by Peter Thiel, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The exact list of invitees is not known, but AppleInsider sources within Apple have confirmed that CEO Tim Cook and his cadre have been invited to the discussion. However, what has been called a "long-ago scheduled meeting" may prevent the CEO from attending, and it is not known at this time if a substitute will attend in his place.

"Most of Silicon Valley is moving from the 'surprised and in denial' phase to accepting the change that's coming," said Semil Shah, general partner at venture capital firm Haystack Fund. "Some of that change, such as immigration, creates anxiety and uncertainty. Some of that change, such as potential for economic stimulus at a national level, gives some folks business confidence."

Apple, Google, and Facebook were notably absent from the chairs of a business council formed by Trump's administration. Named to that board are leaders of Boeing, GE, GM, and IBM, all four of which have a significantly lower net worth than Apple.

Specific topics of discussion are not known, but based on campaign trail remarks by the President-Elect, overseas cash repatriation, manufacture of goods in the U.S. instead of China, and encryption implementation are likely on the table.



31 Comments

foregoneconclusion 12 Years · 2857 comments

Silicon Valley needs economic stimulus? Talk about out-of-touch.

thewhitefalcon 10 Years · 4444 comments

Some of that change, such as immigration, creates anxiety and uncertainty

While I have doubts it will happen, slamming the door on these scumbags abusing the H1B visas would be nice.

cali 10 Years · 3494 comments

1.  If Apple is forced to manufacture in the US, also force the Chinese ripoff companies to do so. 

2.  Ban technology that infringe on American company's patents. 

thrang 17 Years · 1037 comments

Tim should go, regardless of his personal politics. It's a no-brainer.

randominternetperson 8 Years · 3101 comments

thrang said:
Tim should go, regardless of his personal politics. It's a no-brainer.

Agreed.  Even if they disagree with and oppose everything that's said, they should be in the room.  And frankly Trump seems to latch onto cool sounding things he hears, so go there with some compelling "asks."