Apple’s Tim Cook to sit with Michelle Obama at State of the Union address

First Lady Michelle Obama has invited Apple CEO Tim Cook to the State of the Union address — the second year in a row that Apple has been represented. Mercury News reports that Cook will join Obama on Tuesday for her husband’s speech, making him one of a handful of people who will sit in her viewing box. Guests tend to be selected as a way to honor significant service or sacrifice; the first two announced guests for 2013 were former Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha, who is set to receive the Medal of Honor, and the mother of Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old girl who performed at Obama’s Inauguration and was later shot and killed in Chicago. NASA “Mohawk Guy” Bobak Ferdowsi is also said to be attending.

President Obama has been a frequent proponent of developing America’s tech sector, and he’s singled out Apple as a success story before. In 2012, Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs attended as a guest, and Obama name-checked Jobs in his speech, saying that America should “support everyone who’s willing to work, and every risk-taker and entrepreneur who aspires to become the next Steve Jobs.” Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger was also on the 2012 guest list. We still don’t know everyone who will attend as a guest of the First Lady, but it’s clear that Apple is a favorite of late.