Zuckerberg Caught in Revealing Hot Mic Moment During White House Dinner

It sounds to me like he was just apologizing for pulling a number out of his butt. Not sure how revealing it is. Doesn't seem surprising that he wouldn't have such a projection on the tip of his tongue, unless expecting to announce it. And nobody should put much stock in such a projection, whether it was a considered number, or off-the-cuff.

Regardless of whether the estimate would be accurate or not, what legitimate reason could he have for saying "I wasn't sure what number you wanted to go with" to the President? Why would the President need to have input on what Meta's spend is going to be if not for some kind of prior arrangement? This all just leaves a terrible taste in one's mouth for someone who wants government and industry at arms length as much as possible.

I agree. This makes the whole AI business cycle seem less like the vaunted free market working, and more like some kind of crony capitalism, or merchantilism, except that instead of representative government with voter accountability, Trump decides.

It's simple. Trump is in power, and everyone needs to show respect. This makes him even more popular in the eyes of average person, which reinforces his power, and Zuckerberg doesn't give a fuck that peasants think he's weak, as long as that makes him rich.

See how oligarchy works in Russia.

Meta is doing very high investments into AI and who knows how successful that would be. His projection assume multiple big successes the next years and bigger follow up investments. Investors prefer a CEO who thinks in success.

It's revealing in that it sounds like they're there to deliver a script for Trump. How scripted these sessions are I think is interesting. It sounds like Mark was thinking he was supposed to say a number he was told to say, not anything relevant to what they're actually doing.