Archive · 17 Sep 2026
AI Rivalry Hangs Over Trump-Xi Summit Amid Chip Disputes
The United States and China are competing to build powerful artificial intelligence.
Their presidents, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, are expected to discuss this competition in Washington next week.
The countries disagree about whether China should receive advanced computer chips.
The United States also accuses six Chinese companies of copying American AI technology.
China says those accusations are baseless.
The two countries have different rules for controlling AI.
Experts worry that AI could accidentally affect nuclear systems or launch a serious cyberattack.
They want human control, safety rules and a hotline for emergencies.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are expected to discuss AI competition at next week’s Washington summit.
Scott Bessent and He Lifeng are scheduled to discuss AI-related issues before the leaders’ meeting.
The United States accuses six Chinese companies of copying American AI technology through distillation, while China calls the allegations baseless.
Washington and Beijing remain divided over advanced-chip exports, remote data-center access and AI regulation.
Security experts are urging safeguards against AI interfering with nuclear systems or launching consequential cyberattacks.
- Who
- U.S. President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are the central participants.
- What
- The United States and China are preparing for talks about AI competition, military risks, technology copying, advanced chips and regulation.
- When
- The report is dated September 16; Bessent and He are scheduled to meet this weekend before next week’s Trump-Xi summit.
- Where
- The leaders’ summit is scheduled to take place in Washington.
- Why
- Both governments view AI advances as important to their economic and military competitiveness.
U.S. Perspective
Chinese Perspective
Technology copying
U.S. Perspective
The United States says six Chinese companies used distillation to copy American AI products, likely with Chinese government awareness.
Chinese Perspective
The Chinese embassy in Washington rejects the allegations as baseless.
Advanced-chip access
U.S. Perspective
The United States has restricted advanced-chip exports and is considering limits on Chinese companies remotely accessing overseas data centers.
Chinese Perspective
China faces restrictions on technologies used in AI development, although sales of Nvidia’s H200 chips were permitted.
AI regulation
U.S. Perspective
Donald Trump has dismissed calls from AI executives for new federal AI rules, calling them a hoax.
Chinese Perspective
China has rules governing AI algorithms and training data, including requirements to label AI-generated content.
AI development progress
U.S. Perspective
U.S. officials have estimated that Chinese AI models remain several months behind American frontier models.
Chinese Perspective
Some industry leaders say China is nearly level with the United States and leads in open-weight models.
- Diplomatic meeting
- Scott Bessent is scheduled to meet He Lifeng before the leaders’ summit to discuss AI-related issues.
- Chip restrictions
- Since 2022, the United States has imposed restrictions on advanced-chip and chipmaking-equipment shipments to China.
- Technology-copying allegations
- U.S. officials accused six Chinese companies of maliciously copying American AI products through distillation, likely with Chinese government awareness.
- Chinese response
- The Chinese embassy in Washington called the U.S. allegations baseless.
- Nvidia H200 sales
- Donald Trump decided late last year to allow sales of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips to China.
- Regulatory differences
- Donald Trump has opposed calls for new federal AI rules, while China regulates AI algorithms and training data and requires AI-generated content to be labeled.
- AI development gap
- U.S. officials have estimated that Chinese models trail American models by several months, while industry leaders increasingly describe the competition as nearly level.
