U.S. and China discuss AI cooperation at Trump-Xi summit

President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner that included senior technology executives such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The meeting took place amid heightened global concern over the risks of artificial intelligence.

According to a Chinese readout, Xi said the United States and China "may have competition, but they may cooperate even more" on AI, emphasizing the need for dialogue, risk assessment and prevention of misuse. He added that AI should remain under human control and be developed for the benefit of humanity. The U.S. side, as reported, echoed the call to "maintain dialogue and strengthen cooperation on AI."

The discussion follows recent talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and his Chinese counterpart He Lifeng about establishing a "U.S.-China AI dialogue" that could include a direct channel for handling incidents, a concept likened to Cold-War era crisis-prevention hotlines.

Analysts note that while both governments have dismissed proposals for development slowdowns, issues such as U.S. export controls on advanced Nvidia chips and alleged remote access to Chinese data centers could pose challenges. Aalok Mehta, director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the emerging intent to continue dialogue and possibly create an emergency hotline could become a useful tool if supported by concrete reporting mechanisms and high-level commitment.

Details of any specific agreements remain limited, and further information is expected in the coming days.