Viral ‘Sundar Pichai-Donald Trump conversation’ at WEF is fake

Several social media users have claimed that recently, Google CEO Sundar Pichai gave a fitting and caustic reply to US President Donald Trump after the latter scorned India at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the presence of external affairs minister S Jaishankar.

The claim is viral in the form of a WhatsApp message. It goes as follows:

“Is Google an American company or an Indian company? Trump warns Sundar Pichai… “Don’t try to threaten me. It was India that gave me education and knowledge. I am not serving America alone — I am serving humanity.” Sundar Pichai’s powerful reply!

At the World Economic Forum, when U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to belittle India on the global stage, Sundar Pichai’s calm yet firm response created a storm at the international level. It was not just a clash of words, but a reflection of dignity, strength, and true leadership.

Representing India at the conference were External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. At that moment, Trump remarked: “India talks a lot about technology and democracy. But could India have achieved this progress without American companies and American institutions?”

Trying to put India down, Trump’s words prompted Jaishankar to gesture to Sundar Pichai to respond. Pichai began speaking — his voice carried humility, yet his words carried weight and conviction.

“Sir, I was born in India. My country gave me education and taught me values. Knowledge and technology do not have a passport. The sacrifices of Indian teachers, engineers, and families laid the foundation for my journey.”

Sundar’s straightforward answer left Trump stunned. A little later, Jaishankar added, “Partnerships are not weaknesses, they are strengths,” thereby upholding India’s dignity. The entire hall resonated with applause.

On the second day, Trump once again tried to intimidate India using his authority: “If India violates American rules, it will face trade restrictions. Tell me clearly, Sundar — is Google with America or with India?”

Pichai remained silent for a moment, then replied: “I will always serve humanity first. America gave me opportunities, India gave me roots. I don’t need to choose one to respect the other. When I innovate and create, I serve both nations. I serve everyone.”

His words highlighted the importance of humanity in a world divided by nations. Once again, the auditorium erupted in applause.

On the final day of the summit, Trump openly displayed his anger: “India must completely open its market to the U.S. by tonight. Otherwise, it will face restrictions. Sundar Pichai, answer me now — is Google with America or with India?”

Sundar Pichai rose calmly and said firmly: “If a nation or an individual tries to threaten me, I will not yield out of fear. I will never be cornered by intimidation. I bow only to respect, never to force. No matter which country it may be, if it demands submission, I will never surrender.”

The leaders present stood up and applauded Pichai’s bold stand against Trump.

This summit turned into more than just a business negotiation — it became a turning point for humanity, leadership, and principles. Sundar Pichai’s words instilled hope and pride in millions of young people. By refusing to bend before power and instead upholding humility, respect, and truth, he safeguarded the honor of a nation. This incident strongly reaffirmed in world history that principles are mightier than authority.” (sic)

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The purported conversation is also viral on Facebook. A user, Monideepa Roy, shared it on September 22, 2025. (Archive)

Another user, Rup Narayan, shared the same on September 22, 2025. (Archive)

Several other users have shared similar claims on social media, including X. A few of them can be seen below:

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Alt News has received multiple requests on its WhatsApp helpline number (7600011160) to verify the authenticity of the viral text message. 

Fact Check

To verify the claim, we performed a keyword search to look for news reports about the said conversation between Trump and Pichai. We could not find any credible news report confirming the same. Further, there are no reports of the presence of Sundar Pichai or S Jaishankar at the World Economic Forum annual meeting held in Davos-Kloster from January 20 to 24, 2025.

It is also important to note that US President Donald Trump did not attend the event in person. He attended it virtually on January 23, 2025. 

Furthermore, our review of Trump’s address at the WEF revealed that he made no such comments about India as claimed in the message. In his address, Trump criticized the Biden administration, emphasized on energy expansion, deregulation, tax cuts, border security, and asserting US’s position as a global power. He also described his second term at the Oval Office as the start of the “golden era of America”.

We also found a transcript of the speech delivered by Trump. Our readers can access it here. 

The other speakers on January 23, 2025, were WEF founder Klaus Schwab, CEO Børge Brende, American businessman Stephen A Schwarzman, president of Bank of America Brian Moynihan, Spanish banker Ana Botín, and French entrepreneur Patrick Pouyanné.

Alt News also traced a press release issued by the Union ministry of commerce and industry regarding India’s participation at WEF 2025. The release clearly names the delegation, which include union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, C R Patil, K Rammohan Naidu, Chirag Paswan, and Jayant Chaudhary. 

We did not find the external minister’s name on the list. 

Since the viral message does not mention any year in particular, we also went through Sundar Pichai’s WEF speeches from 2018, 2020 — in both these years Trump attended the meet as US President in his previous stint (here and here). We did not find any such remarks as mentioned in the viral ‘Forward’.

To sum up, the viral social media claim that Google CEO Sundar Pichai had a pointed exchange with US President Donald Trump at the WEF in S Jaishankar’s presence is entirely false and baseless.