Trump calls Sundar Pichai a ‘monster’; Google CEO smiles it off after White House AI meet

Washington: US President Donald Trump called Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai a “monster” in an offhand compliment, praising him for wielding enormous influence in the technology sector while staying out of the public spotlight.

The remark came as Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House on Tuesday after a meeting with top tech executives, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to discuss artificial intelligence and industry approaches to AI safety.

“This guy is a monster, and nobody knows him. What a great life! To be a monster and not have to go through this. All you have to know is — SUNDARR! Sundar is his name,” Trump said, turning towards Pichai. The Google chief appeared to take the comment in good humour, smiling as the president continued.

“Hopefully a better tagline than I’m a monster!” Pichai added. Trump did not elaborate on what he meant by “monster”.

A clip of the exchange quickly went viral, drawing a mix of reactions online. Some users read it as a backhanded compliment, others noted the Western slang usage, while a few pointed to the cultural resonance of the name “Sundar”, which means “beautiful” and is also associated with Lord Shiva.