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

Jensen Huang, the Nvidia chief executive known for his signature leather jacket, swapped it for a suit and tie during President Donald Trump's state visit to Beijing this week. After sitting in on high-level talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Huang was later spotted on a sidewalk enjoying a bowl of fried bean sauce noodles. He told onlookers the street food was "so good," in a moment captured on video that quickly spread online.

Huang was not originally on the guest list for the trip. Air Force One made an unscheduled stop in Alaska to pick him up, joining other prominent executives including Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple and Larry Fink of BlackRock. The group traveled with Trump for meetings aimed at easing tensions over trade, technology and artificial intelligence. Yet as the presidential plane departed Beijing on Friday, the concrete results for American business remained thin.

The visit produced no major announced deals comparable to the $250 billion in memorandums of understanding that accompanied Trump's first presidential trip to China in 2017. Analysts noted that Beijing approached the summit primarily to establish political guardrails rather than to sign commercial agreements. US executives, however, still view access to China's vast market as essential, even amid ongoing disputes over tariffs, supply chains and export controls.

The timing of the trip coincides with growing alarm inside the American technology sector about China's rapid advances in artificial intelligence. Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude models, warned this week that the United States could lock in a one- to two-year lead over China only if it moves quickly to tighten restrictions on advanced chip exports. The firm highlighted how current loopholes allow Chinese developers to obtain restricted hardware and how "distillation attacks" let them train smaller models from American frontier systems. Without stronger enforcement, Anthropic argued, any temporary US advantage could slip away.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking from Beijing, announced that the two countries would begin formal discussions on AI safety protocols, including measures to keep powerful models out of the hands of non-state actors. The talks would mark the first such engagement on the issue during Trump's second term. At the same time, Bessent stressed that the United States remains determined to preserve its technological edge, underscoring the competitive reality that continues to shape policy.

Critics of the corporate delegation question whether the presence of so many billionaires alongside the president risks subordinating broader national interests to the pursuit of quarterly profits. Companies represented on the trip have long sought to expand operations in China, yet many of the same firms have lobbied against stricter export rules that would limit the flow of advanced semiconductors. The tension between commercial ambitions and security concerns has only grown as AI capabilities accelerate.

For now, the noodle stop and the photo opportunities may be the most visible takeaways from the Beijing visit. The harder questions about whether the United States can maintain its lead in artificial intelligence while managing an increasingly assertive China remain unresolved.