Trump gives Musk, Huang, Su, Brin science medals; Dell, Nadella get technology medals
In short
US President Trump on October 8 presented the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and AMD CEO Lisa Su, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dell Technologies' Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The medals were handed out at the "Science: A New Golden Age" summit, and Kyodo reported they recognised contributions to advancing AI technology and its infrastructure.
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US President Donald Trump on October 8 presented the National Medal of Science to Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and AMD CEO Lisa Su, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dell Technologies' Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the administration announced. The medals were presented at the "Science: A New Golden Age" summit. Kyodo, carried by Tokyo Shimbun, reported that the awards recognised contributions to advancing AI technology and building its infrastructure. ITmedia AI+ described both medals as the highest US honours for science and technology. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
According to the citations reported by ITmedia AI+ and Gigazine, Musk was recognised for engineering achievements in space exploration, intelligent systems and communications and for opening a new chapter for US manufacturing; Brin for foundational algorithms for information retrieval and data processing; Huang for turning the GPU into a general-purpose computing architecture; and Su for innovations in processor architecture and chiplet integration, including enabling the world's first exascale supercomputer. Dell was cited for spreading personal and enterprise computing, and Nadella for reviving Microsoft for the cloud era and building hyperscale infrastructure for training and deploying US superintelligence. [ 4 , 5 ]
Trump called Musk "a modern-day Edison" at the gathering in Washington, Kyodo reported, adding that The Washington Post said the awards show the administration's preference for private-sector research and development over basic research at universities. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said each recipient had transformed their field and laid foundations for technology people now depend on, Gigazine reported. Before the ceremony, White House spokesperson Houston said the recipients help the US keep leading the world in innovation. [ 1 , 3 , 5 ]
The summit followed a report on US science and technology policy that Kratsios submitted in July. ITmedia AI+ said the report is positioned as the most comprehensive review of the US science and technology system since Vannevar Bush's 1945 "Science: The Endless Frontier". Four of the recipients, Musk, Huang, Su and Nadella, attended a White House "Super Intelligence Luncheon" with AI executives on September 29, ITmedia AI+ reported. [ 1 , 4 ]
Bloomberg, in a report carried by TBS NEWS DIG before the ceremony, said that at the earlier White House meeting executives agreed to a voluntary framework for safety evaluations of advanced AI models with outside auditors, after calls for stronger safety measures following a series of large security breaches. Bloomberg said Trump is wary of new federal AI rules, has warned they could put the US behind China, and has signed an executive order telling agencies to rename AI "SI" (superintelligence). Citing a White House official, Bloomberg also said Trump was expected to announce that National Compute (ナショナル・コンピュート) would provide $100 million in computing resources for scientific research, and that the administration would put more than $100 million into STEM education programmes. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
Bloomberg, carried by TBS NEWS DIG, said the awards again show the close ties between the administration and Silicon Valley, while Kyodo cited The Washington Post as saying they reflect a preference for private-sector research over basic research at universities. The ceremony followed calls for stronger AI safety measures, which Bloomberg said Trump has resisted in favour of industry self-regulation.
Key facts
- Trump presented the medals on October 8. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kyodo reported the gathering was held in Washington. [ 3 ]
- Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sergey Brin and Lisa Su received the National Medal of Science. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]
- Michael Dell and Satya Nadella received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]
- Kyodo reported the awards recognised contributions to advancing AI technology and building its infrastructure. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The event was the "Science: A New Golden Age" summit, held after a July report by White House science and technology office director Michael Kratsios. [ 1 , 4 ]
- Trump called Musk "a modern-day Edison", according to Kyodo. [ 3 ]
- The National Medal of Science has been awarded since 1963 and the technology medal since 1985. [ 3 , 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Trump presented the National Medal of Science and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation on October 8. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- Musk, Huang, Brin and Su were the National Medal of Science recipients. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]
- Dell and Nadella were the National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipients. [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]
- The summit was held after a July report by Michael Kratsios. [ 1 , 4 ]
- The National Medal of Science was first awarded in 1963. [ 3 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- Whether Trump announced a $100 million computing donation by National Compute (ナショナル・コンピュート) and a STEM education programme of more than $100 million at the event. Only one pre-event report, citing an anonymous White House official, said these announcements were expected; no later document confirms them.
- Whether the awards reflect a shift in priority from university research to private-sector research. This is The Washington Post's assessment as cited by Kyodo; no other document makes it.
- The executive order directing agencies to rename AI as "SI". Reported only by Bloomberg via TBS NEWS DIG.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- October 8: TBS NEWS DIG carries Bloomberg's report that Trump will present the medals that day. [ 1 ]
- October 9: Nishi-Nippon Shimbun reports the National Medal of Science awards to Musk and others. [ 2 ]
- October 9: Tokyo Shimbun carries Kyodo's report that the medals were presented. [ 3 ]
- October 9: ITmedia AI+ reports the recipients and their citations. [ 4 ]
- October 9: Gigazine reports the White House announcement and citations. [ 5 ]