Xi, Trump vows to steer China-US ties toward stable future
US President Donald Trump has said Washington and Beijing have made “tremendous strides” on issues facing the two countries, while Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “continued dialogue” between the two countries to coordinate in key sectors.
President Trump said he and Chinese counterpart Xi would discuss “security, technology and super intelligence”, his term for artificial intelligence (AI).
Xi, after being received, called for “continued dialogue” between the two countries and expressed hope that Chinese companies would be “treated fairly” in the United States.
Ahead of Xi’s arrival at the White House, Trump reiterated his opposition to additional AI regulations, saying he wanted to leave the technology sector “exactly where it is”.
Trump said last week that the US already had safeguards in place to regulate and prosecute AI companies, appearing to play down concerns raised by industry leaders over the potential misuse of AI.
Xi’s visit comes amid growing concerns over the potential risks associated with AI. Earlier this month, an Anthropic researcher warned that people developing advanced AI believed the technology could potentially pose an existential threat by the end of the decade.
Despite concerns over AI misuse, analysts say intense competition between the US and China in the technology sector could limit the scope for agreements beyond symbolic commitments.
Trump has largely embraced technology companies during his second term and has resisted calls for tighter AI regulation. Last week, he said critics of AI development were “playing right into the hands” of people who did not want the technology to advance, including political opponents and China.
Several leading US technology executives were also expected to attend a state dinner at the White House for Xi, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.
