Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit in San Francisco, November 16, 2023.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Google donated $1 million to the president-elect Donald TrumpS inaugural fundbecoming the newest big tech company try to gain some goodwill from the new administration.
“Google is pleased to support the 2025 launch with a live stream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage. We are also making donations to the inaugural committee,” Karan Bhatia, global head of government affairs and public policy at Google, told CNBC in a statement.
The company made the donation on Monday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman i Meta both announced donations of $1 million to the inaugural fund late last year, and Amazon AND Apple CEO Tim Cook also reportedly contributed to this.
After a candidate wins the U.S. presidential election, an inaugural committee is established to organize and finance inaugural events such as opening ceremonies, galas, and a parade. Unlike contributing directly to a candidate's campaign, there are no limits on how much an individual – a corporation or labor group – can donate to the inaugural committee.
Google has donated to the inauguration in the past, and the YouTube livestream and link to the inauguration on the Google home page are consistent with previous inaugurations, a spokesman said.
– CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report