A remarkable gathering of some of the world’s richest technology and business leaders took place at the White House as U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a high-profile state dinner.
The September 24 dinner followed a day of official ceremonies and bilateral discussions between Trump and Xi during the Chinese president’s state visit to Washington. The event brought together senior government officials, business executives and several of America’s most prominent technology billionaires.
Among the high-profile guests were Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Apple executive chairman Tim Cook, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Reports on the guest list also identified other major technology and business figures, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin, Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.
The concentration of wealth and corporate influence at the dinner drew considerable attention, particularly because many of the companies represented have major commercial interests in China.
Tesla, Apple and Nvidia, for example, have significant links to the Chinese market, while Washington and Beijing continue to compete over artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors and other strategic technologies.
The presence of so many technology executives therefore added a significant business dimension to an otherwise diplomatic occasion.
Trump had earlier highlighted the importance of bringing leading American business figures into the event. His dinner remarks referred to the gathering as an opportunity to bring together prominent leaders from business, culture and government.
The state dinner came after Trump and Xi held bilateral discussions covering issues central to the relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
Trade, artificial intelligence, technology restrictions and broader strategic issues were among the areas attracting attention during the leaders’ meetings. Xi said during the dinner that the two sides had held sincere and in-depth discussions and reached a common understanding on several issues.
Despite differences between Washington and Beijing, both leaders used the dinner to emphasize dialogue and continued engagement.
Xi said China and the United States should work toward a relationship in which the two major powers can coexist and cooperate, while Trump spoke about the historic relationship between the American and Chinese peoples.
The guest list was particularly notable because of the growing importance of technology in US-China relations.
Artificial intelligence, semiconductor production and advanced computing have become major areas of competition between the two countries. At the same time, American technology companies continue to have substantial commercial interests in China.
Having executives from companies such as Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta at the same dinner offered a striking picture of the intersection between diplomacy, technology and global business.
The White House said the dinner menu was designed around American ingredients with subtle Chinese influences.
Guests were served yellow squash velouté, followed by sesame-crusted sea bass, with vanilla crémeux and sour cherry confit for dessert. The meal was accompanied by a toast featuring Schramsberg Blanc de Noir, a wine associated with the historic 1972 Nixon-Zhou Enlai “Toast to Peace.”
Trump also presented Xi with a custom-made bald eagle statue during the dinner, according to the White House.
The gathering ultimately combined diplomacy, technology and enormous corporate wealth in one room, underscoring the increasingly important role of American business leaders in the US-China relationship.
