OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to attend Trump-Xi state dinner in Washington next week

September 17, 2026 at 02:45 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to attend President Donald Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington next week, CNBC has learned. The dinner is part of a summit where AI regulation is expected to be a major topic. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also attending.

Key Facts

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to attend President Donald Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington next week.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also attending the state dinner, CNBC reported earlier this week.
AI regulation will likely be a major topic of discussion when Trump and Xi convene, especially as Chinese open-weight models close the gap with U.S. frontier labs.
The dinner comes amid a heated battle over AI regulation in Washington and Silicon Valley, with Anthropic's Dario Amodei calling for a slowdown in frontier model development.

State Dinner Attendance

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to attend President Donald Trump's state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington next week, CNBC has learned. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also attending the state dinner, CNBC reported earlier this week. A White House official said in a statement Wednesday that President Trump invited several great American business leaders to his dinner with President Xi because he will always prioritize making good deals for the country.

AI Regulation Debate

Altman's expected appearance comes as a heated battle over artificial intelligence regulation unfolds in Washington and Silicon Valley after researchers warned of the risks to humanity. Anthropic's Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in frontier model development. The debate has paired unlikely AI lab rivals Altman and Amodei, along with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, against Trump and big tech leaders such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Summit Agenda

AI will likely be a major topic of discussion when Trump and the Chinese president convene, especially as Chinese open-weight models advance in capabilities and close the gap with U.S. frontier labs.