Trump to Host AI Executives at State Dinner With Xi Jinping

President Donald Trump is set to bring a group of prominent U.S. technology and business executives to a state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 24, with artificial intelligence expected to feature prominently in discussions surrounding the visit.

According to Coin Bureau in a post on X, the U.S. side of the dinner is expected to include executives from OpenAI, Nvidia, Apple, Qualcomm, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. The gathering comes as Washington and Beijing prepare for talks involving trade, technology and other areas of bilateral relations. Reuters has separately reported that the state dinner is scheduled for September 24 and that senior technology executives are expected to attend.

U.S. Executives Expected at the Dinner

The U.S. executives identified by Coin Bureau are Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI; Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia; Tim Cook, executive chairman of Apple; Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm; Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase; and Jane Fraser, chair and CEO of Citigroup.

The presence of technology leaders comes at a time when artificial intelligence has become an increasingly important issue in U.S.-China relations. Nvidia, OpenAI and Apple are among the companies whose businesses are closely connected to the development or deployment of advanced technology, while Qualcomm has a major role in semiconductor and mobile technology.

ABC News previously confirmed that Altman, Huang and Cook were planning to attend the state dinner.

China Seeks More Than Half of Dinner Seats

Coin Bureau also cited reporting that China accepted the invitation and requested more than half of the roughly 100 seats available at the dinner.

NPR reported that the White House is planning a state dinner with about 100 seats and that Beijing had asked for more than half of them in hopes of accommodating business executives who could accompany Xi. The request has contributed financial to uncertainty over the final composition of the Chinese delegation.

NPR also reported that Beijing had not finalized its list of business executives accompanying Xi as of September 17, with uncertainty surrounding the number of seats and potential meetings available to Chinese executives.

Separate AI Meeting Under Discussion

A separate meeting involving artificial intelligence executives is also being discussed around the summit, according to CNN reporting cited by Coin Bureau.

CNN reported that officials were considering a meeting with executives from Meta, Anthropic, Google and xAI on the sidelines of Xi’s visit. The network also reported that Altman and Huang are expected to attend the state dinner, while the broader AI meeting had not been finalized.

The discussions come as AI policy and safety have become part of the wider U.S.-China technology relationship. CNN reported that AI development, competition between the two countries and questions surrounding potential safeguards are expected to form part of the broader backdrop to the summit.

The state dinner is scheduled for September 24, when Trump is expected to host Xi during the Chinese president’s visit to Washington.

Writer: Victoria Hale
Technology & Blockchain Writer

Victoria Hale writes about blockchain technology, digital infrastructure, and the intersection of emerging technologies with finance. Her articles explore how new protocols and systems are shaping the evolving digital economy.

She prioritises clarity and accuracy when explaining technical developments to a general audience.