Tech giants MIT, Facebook, Twitter and Google are fighting over the teenager who was arrested after his teachers mistook his homemade clock for a bomb. 
 
 Ahmed Mohamed has received an outpouring of support after the incident at Texas’ MacArthur High School, which saw him handcuffed and taken to a juvenile detention centre. 
 
 The 14-year-old Muslim had brought in the clock after assembling it from a piece of circuit board and other objects he had found in his father’s garage. 
 
 A teacher at the school thought Ahmed had actually brought a bomb into the classroom and its principal notified police, who have not charged the boy. 
 
 But the unpleasant experience has not come without a silver lining. 
 
 Hi @IStandWithAhmed, we [love] building things at @twitter too. Would you consider interning with us? We'd love it — DM us! #IStandWithAhmed — Twitter (@twitter) September 16, 2015 
 
 Leading US technology organisations are clamouring to recruit the innovative schoolboy. 
 
 Top-rated university MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) made its pitch on live television when an MSNBC interview with Ahmed cut to Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who works for the university’s physics department. 
 
 She said: “You are my ideal student. A creative, independent thinker like you is the kind of person who should be becoming a physicist.” 
 
 Ms Prescod-Weinstein invited Ahmed to visit MIT and said her former advisors at Harvard University also wanted to take him on a tour of their astrophysics facility. 
 
 Offers have also come in from the social networking world. 
 
 Hey Ahmed- we're saving a seat for you at this weekend's Google Science Fair...want to come? Bring your clock! #IStandwithAhmed — Google Science Fair (@googlescifair) September 16, 2015 
 
 Writing on his Facebook page, its founder Mark Zuckerberg said: “Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed. 
 
 “Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’ve love to meet you. Keep building.” 
 
 Twitter reached out to Ahmed by tweeting “We love building things at Twitter too. Would you consider interning with us? We’d love it – DM us!” 
 
 Google tweeted it was “saving a seat” for Ahmed at its science fair at the weekend, urging him to “bring your clock!” 
 
 Nasa scientists have also offered the teenager visits to their labs. 
 
 Speaking about his arrest, Ahmed told The Independent he felt he had “lost my innocence”. 
 
 “I can never look at the world in the same way,” he said. 
 
 “I like science, but I look like a threat because of my brown skin.” 
 
 Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great. — President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015 
 
 Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, said he believed the incident was racially-motivated. 
 
 “My son is very upset. He wants to be like Einstein. He has so many ideas. He does not have an evil bone in him," he said. 
 
 “I think it is because of Islamophobia and the [impact] of 9/11.” ||||| Skip Ad Ad Loading... x Embed x Share Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Texas high school student who was arrested over a clock mistaken for bomb, spoke out after police dropped the charges against him and thanked his supporters, including President Barack Obama. WFAA-TV 
 
 Here, Ahmed Mohamed, 14, is surrounded by his family, at a news conference on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Irving, Texas. Ahmed said he was ready to go to any "different school," after being detained and suspended over his homemade clock. (Photo: Ben Torres, Getty Images) 
 
 IRVING, Texas — A Texas high school student who gained international attention after authorities mistook his clock invention for a bomb is thinking about transferring to another school. 
 
 Ahmed Mohamed's suspension from MacArthur High School ends Thursday, but at a news conference Wednesday, he said he plans to go to a private school. 
 
 "I really want to go to MIT," Ahmed, 14, said. "I'm thinking about transferring schools from MacArthur to any different school." 
 
 Ahmed also thanked all his supporters on social media — the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed was trending on Twitter on Wednesday. 
 
 "Thank you all for helping me," he said. "I would never have got this far if it wasn't for you guys. And not just you guys, everybody." 
 
 In a tweet Thursday, MIT said it was delighted Ahmed is interested in the school. 
 
 "Making things = inventing the future. We are delighted that Ahmed is interested in #STEM and in MIT! —President Reif" 
 
 Making things = inventing the future. We are delighted that Ahmed is interested in #STEM and in MIT! –President Reif pic.twitter.com/CEwAD8FLYk — MIT (@MIT) September 17, 2015 
 
 Irving police detained Ahmed on Monday after school officials called them because they determined his invention looked like a bomb. On Wednesday, the charges against Ahmed were dropped. 
 
 "(His English teacher was) concerned it was possibly the infrastructure for a bomb," said Irving police Chief Larry Boyd on Wednesday. 
 
 When questioned why he brought the device to school, the student "would only say it was a clock, and was not forthcoming at that time about any other details," Boyd said. 
 
 "I built the clock to impress my teacher," Ahmed said. "But when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her. It was really sad that she took the wrong impression of it — and later that day, I was arrested for it." 
 
 The police chief said they decided to take the boy into custody based on the appearance of the device and as a safety precaution to protect other students. The freshman was handcuffed and transported to a juvenile processing area at the police station. 
 
 Police Chief Larry Boyd said Ahmed Mohamed's device raised suspicions because the wires in a briefcase looked curious — and that Ahmed was not immediately "forthcoming" other than to say the device was a clock. (Photo: WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth) 
 
 "Under Texas law, a person is guilty of possessing a hoax bomb if he possesses a device that is intended to cause anyone to be alarmed or a reaction of any type by law enforcement officers," Boyd said. 
 
 Ahmed was later released to his parents as police further investigated the incident. Boyd said a further probe revealed Ahmed didn't intend to create alarm and the charges against him were dropped. He also said officers later discovered there were some on campus who were aware of the student's invention, but that it wasn't part of a school project, to his knowledge. 
 
 The Dallas chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations had said Ahmed was targeted because of his religious and racial identity. 
 
 "The Irving Police Department has always experienced an outstanding relationship with our Muslim community," Boyd said. 
 
 To that end, Boyd spent part of Wednesday at the Islamic Center of Irving to discuss the incident. 
 
 "We had a very frank discussion about a variety of issues, but there was no anger, nothing like that," Boyd said. 
 
 The chief wouldn't say whether he had issued any apologies; he did say a planned meeting with the family "did not occur," but he declined to elaborate. 
 
 "We've got to look at this from a perspective of reviewing everything that occurred," Boyd said. "We haven't had a chance to do that yet." 
 
 Mosque leaders said they felt the meeting was productive, adding that they have a good relationship with Boyd stretching back years. 
 
 Lesley Weaver, a spokeswoman with Irving Independent School District, said the district would like to share further information about the incident, but can't without the permission of Ahmed's parents. 
 
 "Unfortunately, the information that has been made public to this point has been very unbalanced," Weaver said. "We would provide further factual information about the situation, however we feel it's very important to protect the student's right to privacy." 
 
 Ahmed received support on social media from President Obama to NASA to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. However, support closer to home was less forthcoming. 
 
 In a Facebook post Tuesday, Irving May Beth Van Duyne said, "I do not fault the school or the police for looking into what they saw as a potential threat." 
 
 She made little mention of Ahmed, although her post was later amended to say she would be upset if her child had been arrested. 
 
 On Wednesday, she wouldn't say whether Ahmed or his family were due an apology from the city. 
 
 "We have a great police department. I'm very supportive of our Irving ISD," the mayor said. "I think for me to second guess right now would be unfortunate." 
 
 Van Duyne added that she hopes Ahmed continues his interest in engineering. 
 
 Contributing: Jason Whitely, WFAA-TV, Dallas-Fort Worth. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1KivLet ||||| Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
– Police in Irving, Texas, aren't pressing charges against Ahmed Mohamed, whose homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb, which means the teen whiz is now free to move his mind to other matters. "I'm thinking about transferring schools from MacArthur to any different school," Ahmed, 14, said at a press conference yesterday to cheers, per USA Today. He adds he wants to attend MIT after high school—a professor has already offered to give him a tour, per MSNBC—but he has quite a few offers he'll need to consider first: Twitter is advocating for an internship, Google has invited him to its upcoming Science Fair, Mark Zuckerberg has proposed meeting Ahmed at Facebook's offices, and President Obama has suggested a visit to the White House, per the Independent. "We should inspire more kids like you to like science," he says. "It's what makes America great." Though officers initially weighed "hoax bomb" charges, police chief Larry Boyd says they found Ahmed didn't intend to create alarm. Responding to claims that he was targeted because of his skin color and religion, Boyd adds he discussed the issue with leaders at the Islamic Center of Irving, who say the meeting was productive. "The Irving Police Department has always experienced an outstanding relationship with our Muslim community," Boyd says. Though the case now seems resolved, a school district rep maintains we haven't heard both sides of the story. "Unfortunately, the information that has been made public to this point has been very unbalanced," the rep says, per USA Today. "We would provide further factual information about the situation, however we feel it's very important to protect the student's right to privacy."