Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, is set to attend a state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump for Chinese President Xi Jinping, bringing the head of a company central to artificial intelligence development into one of the most formal settings of US diplomacy.
Trump is scheduled to meet Xi in Washington on September 24. Artificial intelligence is expected to be a central subject of their discussions, as the United States and China lead the push to advance the technology. Nvidia makes chips that are essential to AI developers, giving Huang’s presence particular relevance to a meeting where technological competition is likely to sit alongside wider diplomatic business.
A White House official said: “President Trump has invited several great American business leaders to his dinner with President Xi because he will always prioritize making good deals for our country”. The official did not specify the deals Trump had in mind. The full guest list has also not been disclosed beyond Huang, and it is unknown whether other technology leaders will attend.
Huang has already appeared at the other end of this diplomatic exchange. He attended a state dinner Xi hosted for Trump in May, alongside SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk and Apple chief executive Tim Cook. Huang also travelled to China with Trump earlier this year.
State dinners rank among the highest diplomatic honours a US president can extend to a foreign leader and are usually reserved for heads of allied nations. Trump has held one such dinner since the start of his second term, for Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The dinner for Xi will therefore place American business leaders in a highly visible setting as the two governments discuss AI. Huang has made no stated position available through the facts provided on AI policy or its risks, and there is no information on any specific outcome or policy position expected from the dinner.
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