Christine Emba edits The Post’s In Theory blog.

Last week Donald Trump convened the oligarchs, gathering about a dozen tech executives for a seemingly convivial meeting on the 25th floor of Trump Tower. Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sergey Brin, Amazon’s Jeffrey P. Bezos (who owns The Post) — although no one looked particularly excited to be present, there they all were.

(Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

After a bumpy campaign in which tech leaders emerged as some of Trump’s strongest critics (PayPal founder Peter Thiel, also in attendance, was a notable exception), the president-elect appears to be extending an olive branch. The Silicon Valley executives seem inclined to accept it, but I’d urge them to do more: Take it, and twist.

The tech leaders who attended Trump’s meeting have a combined net worth of at least $136 billion. The companies they represent are worth more than $3 trillion in market capitalization and sustain at least 600,000 jobs. All of them stand poised to gain political and economic clout in the coming years as automation undercuts employment in many traditional industries and as the Internet, social media and artificial intelligence become more deeply embedded in our daily lives.

Silicon Valley’s values are spreading outward, setting new standards in business and society for better or worse. (In the “better” column: the industry quirk of expansive family leave spurring other companies to offer more generous policies. Under “worse:” the willingness to steamroll labor laws and exploit workers under the guise of promoting a flexible gig economy. And, of course, the deeply questionable: the strange fixation on lifespan extension that has some seriously considering whether we should be siphoning the blood of the young.) Trump is clearly aware of this shift: “There’s nobody like you in the world. There’s nobody like the people in this room,” he’s reported to have said to attendees. “You call my people, you’ll call me.”

The new titans of industry may have the ear of the president-elect, but rather than using their influence simply to advance their own interests (I’m sure they’ll still manage to do so), they should consider taking the opportunity to follow in the steps of Carnegie, Rockefeller, et al. and do some civic good while they’re at it.

The policy-challenged Trump administration has already proved itself willing to countenance private-sector interference, but there are a number of areas in which a well-timed suggestion might significantly benefit the United States at large. For instance, as companies such as Tesla and Google seek out subsidies for electric cars and renewable energy, it could be worth pointing out to our new leader that, hey, by the way, environmental concerns do matter. Tesla founder Elon Musk has said that climate change could result in more destruction than all wars in history combined. Wouldn’t his role as the latest member of Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum be the perfect platform from which to advocate for keeping the historic Paris climate agreement intact — or at least for the upcoming administration to simply admit that climate change is real?

There are other issues on which the interests of Silicon Valley chief executives align with — or at least parallel — those of the larger populace. Rather than just negotiating to keep the high-skilled H-1B visa program intact for their own purposes (Apple, Microsoft and others are heavy users of the program), tech leaders could lend leverage to those Americans worried about immigration as a whole. Even while furthering their own goals, it may be possible to influence Trump to temper his tone (or actions) on issues such as immigrant deportation and refugee resettlement.

And speaking of making America safe for all: Facebook and Twitter are two of only a few companies willing to state outright that they would not help build a “Muslim registry” should the Trump administration ask for their assistance. The tech executives who attended last week’s gathering and are now planning for quarterly policy meetings with the president-elect may well have the influence to ensure that that needn’t be a question at all — and they should, if possible, use their clout to do so.

It’s true that there might be some risks to this strategy of using power to speak truth to power. The one tech company notably absent from Wednesday’s confab was Twitter, reportedly because it wouldn’t allow a custom emoji to go with the hashtag “#CrookedHillary” during the campaign. The report was denied by Trump adviser Sean Spicer, who said “the conference table was only so big.”

But this group can weather a few snubs if need be (Trump is still tweeting, after all). And by using their power for good, the titans of tech could emerge from the next four years with both their reputations and morals intact.