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US President Donald Trump made a last-minute move to bring Jensen Huang into his China delegation, underscoring how the battle over AI chips and export controls has become central to Washington’s negotiations with Beijing as Trump prepares for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, CNBC reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, Huang was not initially expected to join Trump’s visit to China, prompting media scrutiny over the absence of the chief executive of Nvidia — the world’s most influential AI chipmaker — from a delegation packed with top American business leaders.
Following the coverage, Trump personally called Huang and invited him to join the trip, CNBC reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Huang then reportedly flew to Alaska to board Air Force One en route to China.
Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday and Friday as the two sides attempt to stabilise ties strained by tariffs, export controls, AI competition and geopolitical tensions across the Indo-Pacific and West Asia.
“Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals,” an Nvidia spokesperson told CNBC.
The company repeated the same statement when asked about Huang joining the trip mid-journey but did not elaborate on why the executive had initially been absent from the delegation.
Earlier this week, Reuters had reported that Trump’s China delegation would include some of America’s most influential corporate leaders, among them Elon Musk, Tim Cook and Kelly Ortberg, alongside executives from companies including BlackRock, Blackstone, Micron Technology, Qualcomm and Visa.
The summit is....
