Archives for June 2026

Fight night energy came to Washington early! Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice chair of Meta; Dana White, president and CEO of UFC; and Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, hosted a Freedom 250 reception ahead of this weekend’s UFC fight on the Ned’s Club rooftop Friday night with special guest Ivanka Trump. The evening celebrated “our nation’s heroes” and Meta announced it will give 130,000 AI glasses to blind veterans.
 

Guests included Jared and Arabelle Kushner, Kai Trump, Doug Burgum, Todd Blanche, James Blair, Karoline Leavitt, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Keith Sonderling, Reps. Zach Nunn and Brian Jack, Chris Klomp, Stanley Woodward, Will Scharf, Alex Flemister, Ethan Klein, Ryan Baasch, Seval Oz, Kellyanne Conway, Reince Priebus, Karen Sessions, UK. Amb. Christian Turner, Terry McAuliffe, Adrienne Elrod, UFC fighters Kayla Harrison and Merab Dvalishvili, MacKenzie Dern, the NELK Boys, Josh Holmes, John Ashbrook, Michael Duncan, “Comfortably Smug,” Isabel Brown, Franco Nuschese, Michael Petricone, Tony Sayegh, Teresa Carlson and Maryam Mujica. Media guests included Mike Allen, Shawn McCreesh, Shannon Bream, Pamela Brown, Ed Luce, Robert Costa, Meridith McGraw, Jonathan Karl, Josh Dawsey, Jim VandeHei, Liz Gough, Aidan McLaughlin, Sara Fischer, Cathy Merrill, and Daniel Lippman.

Washington, DC—The Washington AI Network’s second annual AI Honors, Washington’s only black-tie AI gala, drew more than 400 leaders from government, tech, and academia last night to honor seven Americans shaping the future of artificial intelligence (AI). (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Washington AI Network) 

Here are the 2026 AI Honors Awardees:

• Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) accepted the Bipartisan Leadership on AI Award presented by actor Michael Kelly
• Entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary—a.k.a. Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful—(video interview) received the AI Global Ambassador Award from Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States, Geraldine Byrne Nason
• NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky received the Founder’s Education Accelerator Award from Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad
• Omidyar CEO Michele Jawando (video interview) was presented the Civic Technology Leadership Award by DC Mayor Muriel Bowser
• Major General Patrick J. Ellis, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, received the AI Leadership Award from Army Secretary Dan Driscoll
• Dr. Katherine (Kathy) Yelick (video interview) received the Public Science Award from Dr. Darío Gil who serves as both the Under Secretary for Science at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Director of the Genesis Mission

The evening featured remarks by the newly appointed papal nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia; NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky; Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Secretary of Energy Chris Wright; and entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary. 

“This gathering itself represents something that Pope Leo calls for in his recent encyclical entitled Magnifica Humanitas, a shared document involving many sectors of society. The future of this technology cannot be guided by one field alone. It needs science and policy, business and public service, ethics and faith,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia. “From the beginning, at every stage, the development and application of artificial intelligence must be guided by the dignity of the human person and by the common good of the human family.” 

“Energy is what drives progress. It’s what drives innovation. It’s what lifts people’s standard of living up. We need to get our act together with electricity,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “We’ve tripled our oil production, doubled our natural gas production — but energy in the form of electricity, we’ve barely grown in twenty years. We do not want to hold back this technology or push this technology overseas by not delivering the electricity.” 

NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky said, “The AI era will give the next generation of students and workers the most powerful tools ever created to learn, build, and discover. And even beyond this, it will help reindustrialize America and shape our next 250 years. But to realize that future, we must empower all to reach their full potential. And it’ll take industry, government, and academia working together to get it right.” 

Making the case that AI hesitation — not AI ambition — is the real threat, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll said, “The biggest risk to our national security is not moving too fast. It’s not moving fast enough.” 

Entrepreneur and honoree Kevin O’Leary escalated his months-long fight over his proposed Utah data center, accusing China of funding a coordinated disinformation campaign against American energy and AI infrastructure projects — and vowing to press forward regardless. “I’m going to use my voice to fix this,” O’Leary said. “I’d never seen this before. It’s wrong. And as far as Box Elder County is — I’m going to build this data center. I’m going to build it as a shining example of what we can do here in America.”

“When the Secretary of the Army, a cofounder of NVIDIA, a serial entrepreneur, a National Lab director, and the Vatican’s representative to the United States are all on one stage, this is Washington at its best,” said Washington AI Network founder and CEO Tammy Haddad. “The Washington AI Network has been the catalyst for how Washington talks about AI, and last night, it was the moment for celebrating those leading Washington — and the world — into what comes next.”

SPOTTED: Michael Kelly, Ambassador Mike Waltz, Dario Gil, Reps. Steven Horsford (D-NV), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Dr. Mehmet Oz, Secretary Dan Driscoll, Chris Klomp, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Jill Hazelbaker Franks, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Aaron Parnas, Shelley Zalis, Elizabeth Falcone, Sevel Oz, Ethan Klein, Helen Milby, Franco Nuschese, Jon Kelly, Arun Gupta, Dmitri Alperovitch and Maureen Hinman, David Ginsberg, Kyle Dropp, Scott Kupor, Ylli Bajraktari, Paras Malik, Alex Flemister, Reema Dodin, Tasia Jackson, Ed Luce, Niamh King, Brian Rice, Jessica Nigro, Olivia Igbokwe, Rohit Chopra, Gerry Petrella, Katelyn Bledsoe, Ned Finkel, Maryam Mujica, Felipe Million, Brian Peters, Missy Owens, Michael Petricone. The event, which was emceed by CNN anchor Pamela Brown, was aired on C-SPAN. Watch the entire AI Honors program on Washington AI Network’s YouTube.

MESSAGE From WHCA President CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang to association members:

“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has served as a celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century. When gunfire interrupted this year’s event, it further clarified the WHCA’s mission to advocate for the freedoms that are protected in the First Amendment. We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for.

I am proud to announce we will host another dinner to be held in Washington, D.C. on Friday, July 24th.

Rescheduling was not automatic. It was a choice that the WHCA board made after thoughtful consideration and input from our members. I want to thank board members for the time and care they brought to this decision, particularly on the security front. The event will feature significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures. We will share additional details directly with attendees.”

Our thoughts remain with the officer who was injured and with everyone who experienced that evening. We are indebted to the US Secret Service, law enforcement and the hotel staff whose swift response protected our guests and our staff.

In the weeks since the last dinner, we have raised funds to ensure WHCA members who purchased tickets will not have to pay if they attend the second event, which will be a more intimate gathering. We will also offer financial support to our scholarship winners for travel back to Washington. They, along with our journalism award winners, deserve to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to reporting.”