NEW YORK/BEIJING — The decision by the U.S. and Chinese leaders to bring a large group of Big Tech chief executives to a White House state dinner has drawn global attention to talks on artificial intelligence cooperation between the two countries. Diplomatic observers expect Washington and Beijing to trade an extension of their tariff truce for rare earth exports at the summit, while reaching only a broad, general understanding on AI safety rules.
According to major foreign news outlets on the 19th, Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive at Joint Base Andrews near Washington on the afternoon of the 23rd and hold a summit with President Donald Trump at the White House on the 24th. Trump plans to greet Xi on the tarmac himself on the 23rd, an unusual gesture. The meeting will be the third between the two since the start of Trump's second administration, following talks in Busan on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, on Oct. 30 last year, and a meeting in Beijing on May 14-15 this year. A senior U.S. official said in a recent telephone briefing that the leaders would exchange views on AI issues and the tariff truce, according to AP and Reuters.
Big Tech executives from China as well as the U.S. are likely to attend, putting the state dinner at the White House on the 24th in the spotlight. On the U.S. side, invitations went to Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Dell CEO Michael Dell and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
China is considering including in its economic delegation BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu and CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun — heads of the world's largest electric vehicle maker and battery maker, respectively — along with Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun, who has moved into the AI chip business; Zhongji Innolight, an optical communications company serving data centers; Wanxiang Group, which operates renewable energy businesses; and top management of Bank of China, which is linked to Iran sanctions. With Big Tech executives and financiers from both countries turning out in force, some analysts say a standing consultative body on AI could be within reach.
Another reason for the heavy turnout of tech executives is AI safety regulation, which has emerged as an agenda item for the summit. The Trump administration opposes AI regulation at home but has pushed hard, separately, on allegations that Chinese AI companies have stolen U.S. technology. Among the companies attending, OpenAI has been one of the most prominent in warning about AI risks. China has pushed back strongly, calling the allegations an attempt to hold back its technological development, but Beijing also has an interest in the threat AI poses to political systems. According to The Wall Street Journal, Wang Huning, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the No. 4 figure in China's power hierarchy, met with U.S. business and think tank representatives in Beijing last month and appeared to agree on the importance of bilateral discussions on AI safeguards.
Major foreign media also see a strong chance that Trump will use an extension of the tariff truce to win Chinese rare earth exports and soybean purchases. At the Busan talks in October last year, the two sides extended the truce to Nov. 10, just after the U.S. midterm elections. Neither side objects to extending the truce itself; the question is how long. The U.S. wants extensions in increments of six months to a year, while China is said to want the truce stretched through the remainder of Trump's term. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) predicted the two sides would settle on a one-year extension.
The two countries are also expected to take up Taiwan, Iran and North Korea. As it did in May, China may press the U.S. for an explicit statement that it does not support Taiwanese independence. The U.S., in turn, is likely to ask China to act as a mediator on the war involving Iran and on talks between Washington and Pyongyang. Bonny Lin, senior adviser at CSIS, said there was talk of the possibility that China would invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the APEC meeting in Shenzhen in November and host talks with the U.S. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng agreed to meet at JPMorgan's headquarters in Manhattan on the 20th to coordinate key agenda items for the summit.
