Why China’s frontier AI pioneers are expected to miss this week’s Xi-Trump summit

As President Xi Jinping prepares to travel to the United States to meet his American counterpart Donald Trump, attention is turning to the group of business leaders who could join him.

The South China Morning Post previously reported that executives from electric vehicle maker BYD, smart manufacturing giant Xiaomi and battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited were likely to accompany Xi on the trip – though Beijing has yet to officially confirm the delegation.

What has raised eyebrows, however, is the omission of leaders from China’s frontier AI companies – such as DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng and Moonshot AI’s Yang Zhilin – from all reported versions of the delegation.