Reports confirm tech CEOs including Altman, Huang, and Cook are expected at Xi Jinping's Washington visit; state dinner invitations issued to Altman, Huang, and Amon; Bessent-He Lifeng AI talks and Khanna shadow hearing plans reported.
Following·New·first covered 18 Sep 2026·2 sources
Tech CEOs to Attend Trump-Xi Dinner as AI Tops US-China Agenda
The gist
AI has moved into the center of US-China diplomatic talks, with senior officials and major tech executives directly involved in shaping the agenda. Discussions around AI safety cooperation and a potential pacing agreement with Chinese firms represent a concrete policy direction under active negotiation.
The full picture
Xi Jinping is visiting Washington, with AI featuring prominently in diplomatic preparations. Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Dario Amodei are among the tech leaders expected to attend Xi's visit, and a separate White House meeting with AI CEOs is under discussion, referenced by House Speaker Mike Johnson. Altman, Huang, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon have been invited to the Trump-Xi state dinner specifically. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to meet China's vice premier He Lifeng for talks that cover AI, and Bessent told Axios the US is open to discussing AI 'shared risks' with China. On the congressional side, Rep. Ro Khanna plans a shadow hearing on a US-China AI deal and has asked DeepSeek and Alibaba to join a binding pacing agreement.
How it developed
Related
- Grew out ofNSA-CISA-FBI Chinese AI distillation advisory
- Grew out ofUS-China AI governance stalemate
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