Trump and Xi meet with AI supremacy at centre of superpower talks

US President Donald Trump has been characteristically blunt about the stakes, declaring "Whoever wins AI, WINS!" and identifying China as America's main rival for dominance of the technology. Xi Jinping has said nothing so forthright, but experts say Beijing's position is no less determined.

"China very much sees it as a race, they very much think China should be the leading force in AI — they see AI as a power maximiser," said Rebecca Arcesati of the Mercator Institute for China Studies.

The rivalry has been building for more than a decade, with AI a cornerstone of China's technological ambitions. Trump, for his part, has said beating China to AI supremacy outweighs any risks the technology poses to humanity, and has previously dismissed such concerns as "a hoax."

Beijing has pushed back against what China's foreign ministry called "narratives of threat," warning that confrontation hinders global AI governance and calling for cooperation to ensure the technology benefits all.

Who leads the race depends on how success is measured. American companies — including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI — produce the highest-performing frontier models on most benchmarks. But China has shown it can compete: the BBC notes that in February 2025, an AI model by the Chinese company DeepSeek briefly challenged assumptions of American dominance.

With the two presidents meeting on Thursday, little is expected to matter more to the world than what they say about their AI ambitions — and what they decide.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The leaders of the world's two dominant AI powers meeting face-to-face puts the global AI race, and any limits on it, at the centre of superpower diplomacy.
Trump has said winning the AI race outweighs risk concerns he has called "a hoax," while China warns that threat narratives undermine global AI governance — the meeting will test whether any common ground exists.
Decisions or signals from the talks could ripple through markets, companies and researchers who work across the US-China technology divide.

Background

US-China strategic competition has increasingly been defined by technology, with Washington in recent years restricting Chinese access to advanced chips and China investing heavily in domestic AI ambitions. Both governments treat AI as a strategically critical capability — a matter of national power as much as commerce — which is why the leaders' personal engagement matters. The meeting comes with both countries able to claim leadership: America on frontier models, China in scale and increasingly competitive open-weight systems.

Key Perspectives

The United States: Trump is blunt that AI dominance over China is the priority, and has described AI risk concerns as "a hoax," dismissing caution in favour of winning the race.
China: Xi sees AI as a power maximiser and wants China to be the leading force in the field, while Beijing's foreign ministry calls for cooperation and warns that confrontation and "narratives of threat" hinder global governance.
Analysts: Rebecca Arcesati of the Mercator Institute for China Studies says Beijing very much sees the contest as a race — even if Chinese leaders are less explicit about it than their American counterparts.

What to Watch

Whether the two leaders announce any concrete agreements, even symbolic ones, on AI cooperation, safety or standards.
Any statement on export controls — particularly chip restrictions — that would signal easing or escalation of the technology standoff.
How each side characterises the meeting afterward: as negotiation, competition, or the start of managed coexistence between the two AI superpowers.

Analysis

Why This Matters

Background

Key Perspectives

What to Watch

Sources