The United States and China are set to hold talks on artificial intelligence (AI) in September 2026, marking a key outcome of the May 2026 summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The AI discussions are expected to occur before Xi's scheduled visit to the United States on September 24, 2026, although exact dates, agenda, and venue remain unconfirmed [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The US delegation will be led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, according to multiple sources [1, 2, 3, 5]. Beyond the talks, President Trump confirmed he will also discuss AI directly with Xi during the forthcoming visit. He said, "President Xi is coming over on Sept 24, and we talked about it (artificial intelligence) when I was over in Beijing, and we’ll be talking about it again" [6]. Reiterating his stance, Trump stated, “We’re leading China. We want to keep it that way. President Xi is coming over on September 24th, and we talked about it when I was over in Beijing, and we’ll be talking about it again.” [7]
The Trump administration is concerned about Chinese open-weight or frontier AI models potentially being used for cyberattacks or military purposes. This has led to considerations of export restrictions on AI chips and possible limits on the use of certain Chinese AI models in the US [2, 8]. However, some US AI experts argue that restricting open-weight AI development could stifle competition and innovation [8].
From the Chinese perspective, officials intend to focus the AI talks on the security risks linked with advanced AI models. They are pushing for substantive technical dialogue with the US rather than primarily political negotiations [2, 3].
In a recent survey by Pew Research Center, 36% of Americans believe China leads the world in AI development, while only 12% say the US leads. Another 18% view the US and China as equally advanced, and 33% remain unsure [7, 9].
Preparations for Xi Jinping’s visit have included meetings between top diplomats. On July 22, 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to discuss areas of cooperation ahead of the visit [6, 10, 11, 12].
The AI talks are expected to take place later in September, shortly before Xi arrives in Washington, D.C., on September 24, 2026, where AI will be a key topic of discussion between the two leaders [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12].
