AI takes centre stage at Trump-Xi state dinner as Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai join a guest list packed with top technology and business leaders
Chinese technology executives were conspicuously absent from the guest list for a White House state dinner hosted for President Xi Jinping on Friday, even as some of the biggest names in American technology were invited to join US President Donald Trump and the Chinese leader.
The White House released a list of more than 130 invited guests for the dinner. It included Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI President and co-founder Greg Brockman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The presence of the US technology leaders comes as artificial intelligence has emerged as a major issue in the relationship between Washington and Beijing, alongside trade, advanced semiconductors and competition over strategic technologies.
But no Chinese CEOs featured on the official guest list, The Associated Press reported citing a person familiar with the planning.
US and Chinese planners had discussed including executives from several prominent Chinese companies, the report said.
One issue during the planning was that the US side was slow to propose protocols and clarify what roles Chinese CEOs would have during the state visit, the person said, according to AP.
AI takes centre stage
The composition of the guest list came on the same day that Xi called for greater US-China cooperation on artificial intelligence.
More from BusinessDuring his meeting with Trump at the White House, Xi said the two countries are major powers in AI and that there was “even greater scope for cooperation” despite their competition.
According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout, Xi said Washington and Beijing should use their respective strengths and work together to prevent the misuse of AI rather than “guarding against each other”.
Xi also called for AI development to remain under human control.
“We should coexist in peace,” Xi said through a translator, while arguing that competition between the two countries should be healthy and remain within bounds.
Trump had earlier said AI and “super intelligence” would be among the issues discussed during his meeting with Xi.
US-China technology rivalry
AI and semiconductors have become central to the broader US-China technology relationship.
Washington has imposed restrictions on China’s access to some advanced semiconductor technologies and AI chips as part of efforts to protect US national security and maintain its technological advantage.
Beijing has accelerated efforts to build domestic capabilities while seeking greater access to foreign technology and markets.
Nvidia has been at the centre of the debate over US semiconductor restrictions on China. Huang’s presence at the White House dinner therefore comes as the company navigates rules governing the sale of advanced AI processors to the Chinese market.
OpenAI and Google are also major players in the global AI race, while Meta has invested heavily in developing its own AI models and infrastructure.
The two countries have nevertheless explored limited areas of cooperation on AI safety. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently proposed a bilateral mechanism for notifying each other about significant AI safety incidents during talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, according to Reuters.
Who else was invited
The White House guest list included senior members of the Trump administration, diplomats, business leaders and members of the US judiciary.
Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, along with their spouses, were among those invited.
Jeff Yass, the billionaire investor and major Republican donor who owns a stake in ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, was also on the list.
Several financial sector leaders were invited as well, reflecting the broader economic interests surrounding the Trump-Xi summit.
The dinner followed an elaborate arrival ceremony for Xi at the White House, where Trump highlighted what he described as his relationship with the Chinese leader.
After their Oval Office meeting, Trump described the talks as a “great meeting” but did not provide details when reporters asked about AI, Taiwan and other sensitive issues.
The summit comes as Washington and Beijing seek to maintain a trade truce after months of tariff tensions. The two countries continue to negotiate over trade commitments while managing disagreements on technology, Taiwan and critical supply chains.
