US and China to Launch AI Safety Talks After Trump-Xi Summit

Jensen Huang traded his usual leather jacket for a suit and tie this week and joined President Donald Trump in Beijing for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. After the meetings wrapped, the Nvidia boss stepped out for a quick bowl of fried bean sauce noodles from a sidewalk vendor. Huang told onlookers the food was excellent, and a short video of the moment quickly spread online.

Huang was a last-minute addition to the American delegation. Air Force One stopped in Alaska to pick him up before heading to China. He traveled alongside other top executives including Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, and Larry Fink of BlackRock. The group met with Xi and other Chinese officials as part of efforts to ease tensions over trade and technology.

Yet the visit produced few clear business wins for the American side. Past presidential trips to China yielded announced deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars. This time the focus stayed on building goodwill and setting basic guardrails rather than locking in large contracts. Analysts noted that Beijing prefers steady political dialogue over flashy transaction lists.

The bigger story remains the race for artificial intelligence dominance. Nvidia supplies much of the advanced computing power that powers frontier AI systems. China has narrowed the gap in recent years by routing chips through loopholes and using advanced models to train smaller ones through a process called distillation. A leading American AI company recently outlined two paths forward. One keeps tight controls on chip exports and blocks those training shortcuts. The other lets restrictions slip. The first route could preserve a meaningful American lead for the next year or two. The second risks handing China parity sooner.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries will begin formal talks on AI safety. The stated goal is to keep the most powerful models out of the hands of hackers or terrorists. Both sides still face pressure to move fast on development, so any agreement will run alongside continued competition for technological superiority.

Huang’s public stroll through a Beijing market fits a pattern. He has long made time for street food during overseas trips. This visit, however, comes as Washington weighs how much advanced American hardware should reach Chinese labs and factories. The noodle stop drew attention, but the real test lies in whether export rules and domestic policy keep critical advantages at home rather than letting them drift overseas.