As Xi’s US visit approaches, basic details of planned AI talks remain uncertain

With Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned visit to the United States just weeks away, Washington and Beijing are still struggling to arrange a hoped-for dialogue on artificial intelligence, with the venue, participants and scope of the talks yet to be settled.

Two sources familiar with the discussions said Washington had yet to decide which part of the US government should take the lead. The two sides had also not agreed on whether technical experts and private-sector representatives should be included, among other questions.

While Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has led discussions around the broader US-China economic relationship, one person familiar with the matter added that AI policy cut across the White House, intelligence agencies, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the departments of state, commerce and defence.

A substantive dialogue would also require experts from AI laboratories, rather than simply senior diplomats, to take part, the person said.

It remains unclear whether companies in the AI industry – such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Nvidia on the US side, or China’s DeepSeek, Alibaba and Baidu – will formally attend or only play a role on the margins.