Zuckerberg’s hot-mic moment with Trump: $600B AI spending claim and clarification

At a White House tech dinner, Mark Zuckerberg told President Donald Trump that Meta would spend “at least $600 billion through 2028” in the U.S. on AI and related investment — a moment widely shared online. Shortly after, a hot mic caught Zuckerberg apologizing that he hadn’t been ready and wasn’t sure which figure Trump wanted. Zuckerberg later posted on Threads saying he’d shared a lower number through 2028, had briefed the president on potential spending through the end of the decade, and that it’s possible Meta will invest even more.

Key points

• Hot-mic quote: “probably going to be something like, I don’t know, at least $600 billion through [20]28 in the US.”
• Hot-mic follow-up: Zuckerberg apologized, saying he “wasn’t sure what number you wanted to go with.”
• Threads clarification: Zuckerberg said he had briefed the president and shared the lower number through ’28, and that Meta may invest even more.
• Context: Over the past year Zuckerberg/Meta have taken several steps that aligned them with Trump, including a reported $1M inauguration donation, policy shifts at Meta, appointing a pro-Trump board member, and a reported $25M legal settlement.

For the original report and more details, see: Business Standard coverage.

Sources used: Business Standard, White House press materials, and contemporaneous reporting. If you have footage or analysis to add, reply below — what does this mean for AI investment and tech-government relations?