U.S. President Donald Trump awarded the National Medals of Science to Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and AMD CEO Lisa Su. Two other major technology honors went to Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. At the same time, the companies and the award recipients themselves had previously contributed billions of dollars to projects linked to Trump and his administration.

The ceremony took place on Thursday at the Golden Age of American Innovation Summit. Musk, Huang, Brin, and Su received the National Medal of Science, one of the highest U.S. government honors for achievements in science. Dell and Nadella were awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, TechCrunch reports.

Nearly $6 billion in Trump-linked donations

According to The New Republic, the total amount of donations from the award recipients and their affiliated companies to initiatives connected to Trump and his administration is approaching $6 billion.

In particular, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Microsoft donated funds to the president’s inauguration fund and to the construction of the White House ballroom. AMD donated money to a super PAC supporting Trump.

Michael Dell and his wife Susan also announced plans to direct $6.25 billion toward funding Trump Accounts, an administration program that provides for the creation of savings accounts for children.

Thus, the awarding of honors to technology company executives took place against the backdrop of extensive financial ties between representatives of Big Tech and the president’s initiatives. At the same time, the donations themselves do not prove that they influenced the choice of award recipients.

“No one will be able to compete with us”

Speaking at the ceremony, Trump said that the honorees helped “create an incredible future for America.” According to the president, thanks to their work, the United States will maintain its leadership and competitors will not be able to rival it.

The National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation are intended to recognize achievements in science, engineering, and technological development. This time, those honored included executives of companies playing an important role in the development of artificial intelligence and modern computing infrastructure.

Microsoft received an award amid conflict with the administration

Particular attention was drawn to the presentation of the medal to Satya Nadella. It took place shortly after the Trump administration indefinitely suspended Microsoft’s participation in the H-1B program, which allows American companies to hire qualified specialists from abroad.

This decision affects one of the mechanisms for attracting foreign technical talent to the United States. For the technology industry, which depends on specialists in software, engineering, and artificial intelligence, such restrictions have practical significance.

The combination of honoring Microsoft’s CEO and imposing restrictive measures against the company shows that the White House’s relationship with the technology sector is shaped not only by recognition of achievements and financial support for presidential initiatives. It also depends on the administration’s decisions in the areas of immigration and specialist hiring.