Washington | September 25, 2026
US President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and First Lady Melania Trump at a White House state dinner on Thursday, bringing together senior government officials and some of the world’s biggest technology and business leaders.
Among the high-profile guests were Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai, according to the White House guest list and reports. More than 130 people attended the dinner.
Technology Leaders at the White House
The gathering included executives from companies operating across artificial intelligence, semiconductors, consumer technology, electric vehicles and cloud computing.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple executive chairman Tim Cook were among the prominent technology figures present. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were also on the guest list.
AI and Trade Among Key Issues
The high-profile business presence came as artificial intelligence, trade and rare-earth minerals were expected to feature prominently in discussions between Trump and Xi.
US and Chinese technology companies have significant interests in areas affected by trade policies, semiconductor restrictions and access to critical minerals. The dinner therefore brought technology executives into the broader diplomatic setting surrounding the two countries’ economic relationship.
Indian-Origin Executives Also Attend
Several Indian-origin business leaders were among the guests, including Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella and Sanjay Mehrotra. Usha Vance, the second lady of the United States, was also among the Indian-origin attendees.
The state dinner was part of Xi Jinping’s three-day US visit, during which the two leaders held discussions on issues affecting US-China relations.
